Nelson Mandela’s original arrest warrant Non-fungible token (NFT) has raised $130,000 in an auction aimed to fund a heritage site that documents South Africa’s struggle for democracy.
According to Posthumus, chief executive officer of Momint; the marketplace for NFTs that sold the Mandela item, the proceeds from the sale will go toward the Liliesleaf Museum Heritage Site which received the original document in 2004 as a donation.
Describing the deal as a way to revitalize their flow and keep history alive, Ahren in an interview with Bloomberg, said the deal will help the museum sites stay afloat as they have been badly affected by the lack of tourism due to Covid.
According to him, the buyer of the NFT will also have exclusive access to the original document at Liliesleaf Museum, noting that the ink is visible through the paper of the high-definition scan.
The deal follows the $50,000 auction of an NFT of a pen gun owned by fellow freedom fighter, Oliver Tambo last year.
What you should know
- Nelson Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist who emerged from 27 years in prison to become South Africa’s first Black president.
- He was arrested in 1962 for conspiring to overthrow the White-minority government.
- Liliesleaf farm was used as the secret headquarters of the African National Congress from 1961 where Mandela and other party leaders hid from authorities.
