The man who is responsible for the "Madiba monument" says the idea struck him while he was in the Cape for the World Cup.
|||Cape Town - Blame Fifa boss Sepp Blatter if you’re concerned about the proposed “Madiba monument” on Table Mountain - because the man who is responsible for it says the idea struck him while he was in Cape Town for the 2010 World Cup.
Dutchman Aad Bak, a one-time physical education teacher and “reasonably successful” businessman who is currently a writer, said he had been on the City Sightseeing Red Bus during the World Cup when he had “somehow” alighted in District Six.
“Took myself a nice seat on a rock and watched around. (Then) I got the idea to make some monument like Mount Rushmore for Nelson Mandela.”
But he also said that more research was needed to select the most suitable site for such a monument.
Initial concept drawings show a 60x30m structure attached to the cliffs on the north-western side of Table Mountain below the cableway - because “we don’t want to spoil the nature park of the mountain range”.
And he conceded the project team should have approached the local authorities, including the Nelson Mandela Foundation, before announcing their proposal, but said they had not wanted to miss Madiba’s birthday on July 18.
Bak explained his friends had responded positively to his monument idea.
“So it became time to get some things on paper and start working on it.”
He had found architect Ramon Knoester from the design company WHIM through Facebook - he didn’t know him - and had asked for an appointment. “He was also enthusiastic and made a concept of the design like it is now.”
Approaching the various authorities would be their next step, Bak said.
He estimated initial costs would probably be between R6.57 million and R13.15m.
john.yeld@inl.co.za
Cape Argus
* If you use Gmail to read IOL's newsletters, note that Google is rolling out a new tabbed inbox that filters your mail into 5 separate tabs - Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates and Forums. IOL emails will probably be sent to the “Promotions” tab instead of the “Primary” tab. If you don't want it that way, drag the newsletter from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. An alert will pop up. Click “yes” and your newsletters will continue to go to your Primary inbox.