10 December 2013
A giant laser projection of Nelson Mandela’s face is being projected onto Table Mountain in Cape Town during South Africa’s national week of mourning for the late president, who died last Thursday.
The display, set up by the Western Cape provincial government, will run every night until 16 December. The lights are best viewed from 9pm, as that is when visibility is best, the province said in a statement on Monday. The projection is switched off at midnight.
Table Mountain was a significant landmark for Mandela during his imprisonment on Robben Island, Western Cape Government assistant director Mushfieqah Salie said in a statement on Monday. “While the apartheid authorities tried to break the spirits of Robben Island prisoners, Madiba and his fellow freedom fighters were inspired by one of the Cape’s iconic natural wonders to resist those attempts.”
At the opening of the Table Mountain National Park in 1998, Mandela said: “During the many years of incarceration on Robben Island, we often looked across Table Bay at the magnificent silhouette of Table Mountain.
“To us on Robben Island, Table Mountain was a beacon of hope. It represented the mainland to which we would one day return.”
The laser image is projected from Tafelberg Road, just below the mountain. The projection site is not open to the public.
SAinfo reporter and Western Cape Government
