Durban - uMngeni Municipality will be host to the permanent exhibition of former president Nelson Mandela’s commissioned photography.
This would include the picture taken of the former statesman while he was travelling the country as president of the republic.
UMngeni Mayor Chris Pappas made the revelation recently as he detailed his municipality’s tourism, festive and infrastructure plans for the future.
“This is an exciting one, we have been working with the Nelson Mandela capture site, under the guidance of (one of its officials) Thuli Mtolo to open up the one of a kind exhibition in South Africa.
“Mandela’s commissioned photographer when he was president who went around the world with him has decided that uMngeni will be home to his new exhibition, a permanent exhibition of pictures of him (Mandela) travelling the world will be on display.
“All of you know the iconic fist picture (where Mandela was raising his fist), the original of that picture will be right here in uMngeni municipality,” said Pappas.
He said the display exhibition had been completed and would be opened during the festive season.
The exhibition forms part of the municipality’s efforts to attract tourists to the area.
Pappas recently called on tourists looking for a more varied experience to visit uMngeni, proudly proclaiming that his municipality had more to offer than Durban.
Speaking recently on what the visitors to the area can experience, he said: “I am going to be cheeky now, I am young, I can hide behind that… the (uMngeni) municipal manager said you can go to eThekwini and go to Gateway or the beach if it is not closed, and that’s it.
“But when you come to uMngeni, you can go to the Karkloof forest or the gorge. You can go to the Midmar dam, which is our very own beach. You can go wine tasting. You don't have to go to Western Cape ( for wine tasting). There are wine farms right here in the Midlands.”