Statue of Nelson Mandela – level 3
A 6-meter-tall statue of Nelson Mandela has been unveiled in the West Bank City of Ramallah. The city's mayor attended the ceremony and said it's the first statue South Africa has given outside its border and is part of a relationship between Ramallah and Johannesburg. The statue sits in a square named after Mandela.
Twenty-two years ago, the first post-apartheid elections were held, leading to Nelson Mandela becoming South Africa's first black president. Now the 27th of April is a public holiday, called South Africa's Freedom Day.
Mandela remained president until 1999 and guided South Africa from apartheid to a multi-racial democracy. He's an icon of peace and the embodiment of the struggle for justice around the world.
He passed away at 95 years old at his home in Johannesburg in December 2013.
Difficult words: unveil (to show people something for the first time), apartheid (a system of discrimination), struggle (trying to achieve something difficult).