South African group apologises after offering a night in Nelsons Mandela's prison cell in auction

'We are saddened his legacy is being exploited in this way'

(AFP/Getty Images)

A charity auction that offered the “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to spend a night in Nelson Mandela’s prison cell has been postponed after a backlash against it.

Wealthy executives were invited to bid for the night on Robben Island, where the anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner spent 18 years.

The prize was offered by the CEO SleepOut charity which raises money for the homeless. Bids began at £188,300 and had climbed to around £226,00 by the time the event was removed from the website.

South Africans criticised the auction on Twitter.

“So brazenly in bad taste, there are no words,” photographer Victor Dlamini said in a post. Others called it "tasteless" and "shocking".

A spokeswoman for the Robben Island Museum however, told local press that it had not agreed to let the charity use the cell.

“Robben Island Museum would under no circumstances consider auctioning Mandela’s cell,” Morongoa Ramaboa, told South African news outlet IOL. “We are saddened that his legacy is being exploited in this way.”

The charity's trustees later issued a collective statement apologising “if they have offended anyone”.

The event was scheduled to coincide with celebrations of the centenary of Mandela’s birth and a portion of the money raised was set to go to a charity that helps prisoners achieve university degrees.

When Mandela first arrived on Robben Island in May 1962, a warden told him: “This is the island, here you will die.”

He responded with an expletive.

But the regime for the inmates was brutal, with the day beginning at 5.30am. It included hard labour in a lime quarry.

Mandela’s famous cell – number five – is about four square metres and included two plates, a spoon, a wardrobe, a sleeping mat and a blanket.

Robben Island, near Cape Town, is now a Unesco world heritage site.

Despite the criticism of the sleep-out auction, the charity plan to carry out another Mandela-themed sell-off and have offered a night in a safe house at Liliesleaf Farm used by anti-apartheid activists.

An auction, with bidding beginning at £13,987 will be held for a night at Mandela’s bedroom at the farm. South Africa’s first black president ”spent countless hours writing, reading and reflecting in this room,” the website said.

A statement posted on the CEO Sleepout website said: “The Trustees of The CEO SleepOut Trust would like to extend their sincere apologies if they have offended anyone in their quest to raise funds for worthy causes, as this is certainly not its intent.

“The CEO SleepOut Trust has as its goal to receive donations from third parties in relation to The CEO SleepOut Events, provide funding and support services, and ensure the funds are disseminated to the appointed primary beneficiaries with absolute transparency and accountability.”