Nelson Mandela with 86th Birthday Present

This gift from fellow Robben Island prisoner Mac Maharaj, in addition to gifts and awards received by Nelson Mandela primarily in the post-presidential period, resides in the archive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

In a later speech marking the placing of gifts in the custody of the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, Mandela described these gifts as 'honours'; honours received on behalf of comrades and colleagues who stood with him in the long struggle for justice, and on behalf of a country whose traditions are steeped in those struggles; honours shared with the country through their public display.