Controversial Mandela statue burnt down

The statue of Nelson Mandela, made for the opening of Nelson Mandelapark on October 24th, has been burnt down. The colorful statue was made by pupils of primary schools De Achtsprong and Rozemarn and consisted of paper and flowers. The children themselves were present at the opening, as well as Mayor Van der Laan and Ambassador Bruce Koloane of South Africa. Groenlinks chairman in Amsterdam Zuidoost, Iwan Leeuwin, was angered by the statue. According to him it looked too much like Zwarte Piet. "I left the meeting in protest" he wrote on Facebook. "Given the sensitivity surrounding Zwarte Piet this should never have happened." Patrick Dorder posted a photo of the burnt statue on Facebook and got a lot of reactions. One person commented on the picture calling it "small minded". Another asked how people can still be so backward.

Weglopen omdat Mandela te veel op Zwarte Piet lijkt. Wat? #GroenLinks http://t.co/bTNVnjhxDQ Beeld via @LavieJanRoos pic.twitter.com/xEKVgRurww

— Martijn van der Kooij (@MartijnvdKooij) October 24, 2014