BRITAIN’S preoccupation with world-renowned iconic personalities will reach a new level after this month with the historic unveiling of a statue of the legendary freedom fighter, Nelson Mandela, in Parliament Square in London.

The Mayor of London, Lord (Ken) Livingston and Lord (Richard) Attenborough, both trustees of The Mandela Statue Fund, have invited a number of prominent members of the international community to the August 29 function.

The Caribbean region will be represented by Sir Shridath Ramphal who, as a former Commonwealth Secretary General, had been active in the international struggle for Mandela’s freedom from imprisonment and for an end to the dehumanising system of apartheid.

The idea for the Mandela statue was proposed by the late internationally famous South African journalist and anti-apartheid campaigner, Donald Woods, who was forced to make London home for himself and family, after being banned in 1977 from returning to his native South Africa.

Woods, who died at 67, was foremost in promoting the campaign to have a statue of Mandela in an appropriate place of prominence in London.

In Parliament Square, the Mandela statue will be among those of outstanding historical leaders such as Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.

The great man himself is expected to be present for the memorable occasion on the morning of August 29.

With Woods’ death in 2001 his widow, Wendy, and influential friends kept alive the idea of unveiling such a memorial to post-apartheid South Africa’s first freely elected president, who is worshipped by millions across the world for his heroism and commitment to the poor and oppressed.

When Mandela learnt of the passing of Woods, whose exposure of the heinous apartheid system and torture and murder of Steve Biko are portrayed in the film Cry Freedom, Mandela, now 89, had noted with deep sadness:

“We shall remember Donald Woods as a personal friend who gave selflessly of himself to advance the cause of his country.”

The Mandela Statue Fund is chaired by Lord Attenborough, famous actor, director and producer of epic films like Gandhi (life of India’s architect of freedom and famous philosopher of non-violence in political struggles, Mahatma Gandhi) and Cry Freedom, based on the anti-apartheid struggles of Steve Biko.

Patron of the Mandela Statue Fund is Woods’ widow, Wendy, with honorary patrons including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, ex-prime minister Tony Blair (currently holidaying in Barbados), Tory Opposition leader David Cameron, Sir Richard Branson and the Mayor of London, Lord Livingstone.