Sri Lanka has renewed efforts to further strengthen bilateral relations with South Africa at a time the country is facing a severe financial crisis surpassing the Covid- 19 crisis.
In an unprecedented diplomatic goodwill gesture cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal to erect a statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Colombo.
The statue will be erected on land at the Colombo Municipal Library premises. However, Sri Lankan Government provisions will not be used for this purpose.
The Government says attention was drawn to install statues and monuments to respect national heroes and those who deserve to be honored in a particular place instead of installing such statues and monuments at several places.
Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election
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