By Kanina Foss
Nelson Mandela will soon be sent around the world. He will go to countries that some people haven't even heard of. He will enter homes and offices.
Sometimes he will bring good news, sometimes bad. Regardless, he will put a smile on the faces of those mail recipients lucky enough to be sent a letter stuck with one of only 2-million postage stamps printed by the South African Post Office (SAPO) to mark the occasion of Madiba's 90th birthday.
On Monday, in what was probably his last public appearance before he goes to Qunu, Eastern Cape, to celebrate his birthday with his family, Mandela attended a presentation by the Post Office at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg.
"Stamps are much more than pieces of paper that show postage has been paid. They are small ambassadors that carry images of our country to destinations all over the world," said SAPO board chairperson Vuyo Mahlati.
She said stamps were also recorders of history. "Madiba's 90th birthday will be remembered far into the future, because it has been captured on a stamp."
When pressed to make a speech, Mandela - with a customary twinkle in his eye - said: "Well, I've never been a good speaker. I would disgrace myself in the presence of such experts. But I'm happy my shortcomings should be discovered here. That is my total speech."
Two different stamps have been released. The first is a domestic postage stamp costing R2,05, which features a photo of a beaming Mandela taken by Halden Krog.
The second is an international postage stamp costing R4,90, which features a more demure portrait painted by Cyril Coetzee.
Both are being issued as miniature sheets - the actual stamps form part of a larger picture and have perforated edges so they can be torn out. Miniature sheets are primarily created with collectors in mind.
SAPO senior manager of philatelic services Johan van Wyk said the future value of the Mandela birthday stamps would depend on the condition in which they were kept.
The SAPO is also helping to ensure their future value by printing a limited number - only 1-million - of each.
Van Wyk said South Africa's first stamp, the Cape Triangular, was issued in the Cape of Good Hope in 1853 and is valued at about R1-million.
The most expensive stamp in the world is the 1858 Swedish Treskilling Yellow, which was sold on auction for 2,5-million Swiss francs.
According to Van Wyk, designing the Mandela birthday stamps was a simpler process than most because the whole world immediately recognised his image.
This is not the first time the SAPO has documented Mandela's life. It produced a stamp when he was elected president in 1994, and later released a stamp booklet titled The Many Faces of Nelson Mandela.
The inauguration stamp was the best seller in the history of the Post Office.