Construction World August 2018

PROJECTS & CONTRACTS

Statue continues to MAKE HISTORY

R ob Newberry, SACPCMP professional construction project manager for the project, played a pivotal role in the project from conception through to handover, which included the unveiling and close out. Sweden has always had a close relation- ship with South Africa, and a group of Swed- ish businessman (whose details are listed on the plaque alongside the statue) wanted to pay tribute and say thank you to Madi- ba. They considered and reviewed several options, finally deciding on a statue as being the best and most appropriate option. Now, in the centenary year of Madiba’s birth the statue becomes more iconic and even more relevant to the foundation and future development of South Africa. Even though the statue project was not a pure construction project, the six life cycle stages of development remain much Sandton Square) was the world’s first public and largest in Africa statue of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, and doing his famous ‘Madiba Jive’. A few years ago at the centre of Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa, the new Nelson Mandela Square at Sandton City (formerly

ba shirt, was completed with small adjust- ments made to the face and hands. The Nelson Mandela Foundation takes the vision of its founder and the movement he spearheaded, to contribute to the making of a just society that remembers its past, listens to all voices, and pursues social justice for all. It is also the Foundation’s responsibility to ensure the copyright for anything that uses either the name Nelson Mandela or his features. The Nelson Mandela Foundation approved three life sized statues. One can be viewed at the entrance to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. After an extensive search, a local bronz- ing foundry was found just outside Johan- nesburg and there the statue was cast. Negotiations took place as to the formula and design mix for the bronze, which is the traditional material for such statues. Bronze is a mix of metal alloys of copper with tin, zinc and lead. The mix sometimes changes depending on the requirements of the artists and the foundry. Once approved, the three statues were cast in the foundry. The sponsors then de- cided to create a single large statue of exactly three times Madiba's height. This was done using computer generated graph- ics and after discussion ‘parallax’ was de- cided not to be considered in the production and manufacture of the statue. The Madiba Jive statue in Sandton is 5,8 m tall, 2,4 mt and its thickness ranges from 25 mm – 50 mm.

To ensure structural stability and strength, as well as the positioning of the statue, two stainless steel high tensile 25 mm lifting rods were built into its struc- ture. The rods extend from the feet, up the body and around the armpits and down into the arms; the lifting points were from under the armpits. These two stainless steel high tensile rods were also used as the holding down bolts for the statue. In discussion with the artists and the foundry, the statue was cast in 42 separate pieces and welded together to form the one large statue. At the time of manufacture one of the artists’ wives placed a copy of the Lord’s Prayer inside the statue for posterity. Many locations were researched and considered and the sponsors finally selected and chose the current location in Sandton for its security security and for ease of view- ing by the general public. Since the statue was placed in Sandton (now named Mandela Square), there has been an increase in foot traffic from 750 000 to 1 500 000 per month. This in- crease is attributed to mainly tourists and school children. Secrecy and security were paramount during the casting and manufacturing, and the artistic creation of the statue. A ‘tracker' was placed with the statue for extra security precautions. Transport of the statue happened in the early hours of one cold morning. The launch and unveiling (by Madiba’s eldest granddaughter) was a great success

the same in this and almost any other similar develop- ment project. Two renowned local sculptors Jacob Maponyane and Kobus Hattingh were ap- pointed to create the life size statue. Together they chose the dancing stance of the Madiba Jive as an endearing signature of Madiba and one that pays tribute to the joy and celebration inherent in the people of South Africa. Madiba could not sit specifically for the two artists and so numerous photo- graphs were taken. There was also plenty of photographic material on the Internet and the Madiba Jive was agreed for the theme and the format of the statue. Initially a clay and fibre- glass life size statue, wearing the famous traditional Madi-

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2018