Nelson Mandela Square

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Statue at Nelson Mandela Square.

Nelson Mandela Square is a shopping centre in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. Formerly known as Sandton Square, it was renamed Nelson Mandela Square on 31 March 2004 after a 6-metre statue of Nelson Mandela was installed on the square to honour the famous South African statesman. It is attached to the large Sandton City shopping centre.

The statue which was sculpted by Kobus Hattingh and Jacob Maponyane weighs 2.5 tons and measures 2.3 metres from elbow to elbow.The shoulders of the statue are 1.7 metres in width and the shoes are 1 metre in length.

The renaming celebration and the unveiling of the statue was to mark the 10th anniversary of the complex, and also commemorates the first decade of democracy in South Africa.

Perhaps ironically, Liliesleaf Farm, where Mandela and other political activists were arrested in the 1960s and tried as part of the now infamous Rivonia Trial, is north of Nelson Mandela Square, close to the N1 freeway, off Rivonia Road. The area is now home to massive office parks and other developments, and little remains of the farm.