Pretoria - International Relations and Cooperation Minister Nkoana-Mashabane has unveiled a statue of former President Nelson Mandela at the South African Embassy in Washington D.C, United States of America (USA).
The department said the South African Embassy has been working on the installation of the statue at the newly-renovated Chancery.
The Embassy is a historic site of many protest marches by the Free South Africa Movement in the US and today stands as a symbol of this activism, freedom and democracy.
The department said the project has received a positive response from US citizens, who see it as the completion of the golden triangle of the global civil rights movement encompassing the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela.
Given the high profile of the unveiling and dedication event, the department said the South African Embassy invited Minister Nkoana-Mashabane to unveil the statue on Saturday.
In 2011, the South African Embassy in Washington D.C. conceived the South Africa 2012 (SA 2012) Campaign, premised on the recognition of 2012 as a year which focused on South Africa, with events like the African Diaspora Summit, as well as the Centenary Celebrations of the African National Congress (ANC).
The highlight of the SA 2012 campaign has been the Celebration of the Life, Legacy and Values of Nelson Mandela.
The climax of the campaign was the unveiling of the Nelson Mandela statue in front of the newly-renovated Embassy of South Africa on 3051 Massachusetts Avenue in Washington D.C. - SAnews.gov.za
