Nelson Mandela SILVER R1 COIN

The Protea series commemorates various aspects and important events in the history of South Africa. In 2005, a theme celebrating the “Nobel Peace Prize Winners of South Africa” commenced with Chief Albert Luthuli as the first of South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize winners. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was featured on the 2006 Protea coins and the joint Nobel Peace Prize winners, Mr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Mr Frederik Willem de Klerk complete this theme in 2007.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1993 to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa. From their different points of departure, Mandela and de Klerk had reached agreement on the principles for a transition to a new political order based on the tenet of one man-one vote. By looking ahead to South African reconciliation instead of back at the past, they had shown personal integrity and great political courage. Mandela's and de Klerk's constructive policy of peace and reconciliation also pointed the way to the peaceful resolution of deep-rooted conflicts elsewhere in the world.

The previous Nobel Laureates Albert Lutuli and Desmond Tutu made important contributions to progress towards racial equality in South Africa. Mandela and de Klerk had taken the process a major step further. The Nobel Peace Prize for 1993 was jointly awarded in recognition of their efforts and as a pledge of support for the forces of good, in the hope that the advance towards equality and democracy would reach its goal in the very near future.

When Nelson Mandela bade farewell to Parliament on 10 May 2004, he urged South Africans never to forget their past, but to use it as a guide in overcoming the challenges still facing the country. FW De Klerk, who retired from politics in 1997, praised all South Africans for their role in bringing about change in the country, asking them to join hands for further socio-economic transformation, saying the challenges were still huge. "We must ensure that South Africa becomes a winning nation." Mandela left the chamber assisted by De Klerk, as the gathered Members of Parliament sang: "Rolihlahla Mandela, freedom is in your hands, show us the way to freedom in this land of Africa".