Cape Town - The larger than life legacy of Nelson Mandela will be immortalised with the construction of a new UCT Nelson Mandela Public School of Governance and Memorial Centre.
The location of the new memorial, at the south-western corner of UCT's upper campus, had been deliberate in the presence of the Rhodes Memorial, with its “spatial juxtaposition” meant to invoke “dialogue and reflection” around the two figures with contrasting lives and disparate legacies.
UCT's Nelson Mandela Public School of Governance in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation recently announced the memorial project following a substantial donation received from Atlantic Philanthropies.
The university said the location of the memorial site also provided an opportunity to rehabilitate the landscape following the devastating fire of April 2021.
An architectural design competition will be established to determine the look of the precinct, with interactive public art installations, contemplative walkways, and meeting areas designed to facilitate “catharsis, reflection and spiritual resonance”.
Nelson Mandela Foundation Acting CEO Verne Harris said the project goes back 10 years in 2014, when the foundation entered into a partnership with the university.
The memorial will see the public art installation attached to the new building which would honour Mandela.
There will also be a dedicated exhibition space within the centre.
“So the exhibition that we develop here at the Nelson Mandela Foundation and travel the world, will go to this centre and be made available to Cape Town audiences.”
A panel of experts was appointed to develop concept. Harris said the proximity to the mountain had been important for the foundation.
“That mountain loomed over Nelson Mandela for more than 27 years. So it's kind of almost a compass point and a reference point on his life's journey.”
As an institution, Mandela and his family had many connections to the university. His wife, Graça Machel was the university's first woman to be appointed as Chancellor and the first black person to assume the role in 1999, serving the university for 20 years. Members of his family were also students and the university had assisted Mandela in numerous ways while a prisoner, Harris said.
“I've named the proximity of the Rhodes memorial in terms of the continuing discussion, the discourse around transformation and decolonisation, a very important element for us; and then lastly, is the site at UCT. You can't get higher on UCT campus than this particular site, it's right on the boundary with SANParks and Table Mountain, which gives it that elevation and proximity to Rhodes memorial and so on,” Harris said.
“All the work we do, we try to include a leadership development dimension, so we're excited at the possibility of finding synergy and doing projects together with the School of Public Governance in that leadership development space. Our country desperately needs that.”
Director of the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, Professor Faizel Ismail, said it was important to teach the next generation the values imbibed by Mandela and train them in the leadership skills required to tackle the country's challenges and the continent's.
“This is really a project which is about the need for both a Public Policy School that will steer the continent as a whole, and an African Public Policy School that will address the challenges of the African continent and will do some research that is based in Africa, by African researchers that analyses the challenges of the continent on issues relate to regional economic integration, economic development, industrialisation, but also the big challenges that have emerged on climate change and also the very concerning issues of governance on the continent.”
The university received its largest single donation ever, a grant of US $21.5 million from Atlantic Philanthropies, enabling the construction of the centre.
The project is further supported through grants and pledges from donors and alumni.
In a statement released, UCT interim Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy said: “The proposal is to build a new home for UCT’s Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, and to create a vibrant convening space located within a memorial centre curated with the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The Nelson Mandela Memorial Centre and School of Public Governance will serve emerging leaders from across the African continent.”