Fantastic to bizarre, Madiba got it all

A bizarre three-armed bronze of Dr Martin Luther King from former American first lady Michelle Obama is among the strange gifts given to former president Nelson Mandela.

So is a bust of Madiba in papier-mache‚ painted gold‚ that was created by a prisoner.

These are being highlighted by Curiosity‚ a magazine produced under the auspices of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg‚ which says there is a vault at the Mandela Foundation that houses “Madiba art”.

“Value is subjective. Some of it is fantastic‚ some quite grotesque‚” the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s Verne Harris is quoted as saying.

The archives show that Mandela at least got to enjoy several sweet treats as gifts‚ including in July 1999 when late pop star Michael Jackson arrived with a personalised birthday cake for Madiba.

The singer spent the big day with Mandela and his wife, Graca Machel, as well as 40 children‚ grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Other gifts from famous Mandela fans include a yellow and black pottery bowl from former British prime minister Tony Blair‚ which Madiba was reported to have loved‚ and cigars and rum from Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

In 2010‚ when SA hosted the Soccer World Cup‚ vuvuzelas were, unsurprisingly, at the top of his present list.

Gifts from ordinary South Africans were often children’s hand-drawn paintings‚ as well as socks and blankets.

In the mid-2000s‚ a Gauteng woman made a sand painting in a bottle of the view of Table Mountain from Robben Island‚ using sand from the island.

Madiba’s response to that was not publicly recorded.

We also wonder what his unguarded response was to a “gift” from supermodel Naomi Campbell – in April 2000‚ she announced she was stripping for GQ magazine on condition that her payment went to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.