S. Africa marks 50 years of Mandela's arrest

HOWICK, South Africa (AFP) - South Africa will unveil its latest monument to Mr Nelson Mandela on Saturday, a new statue along a rural highway to mark the spot where he was arrested 50 years ago for his struggle against white rule.

Mr Mandela, now 94, was arrested as a young liberation fighter on Aug 5, 1962, near the town of Howick, just months after he founded the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

He had recently returned from a trip across Africa drumming up support for the new Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), or "Spear of the Nation".

A modest monument at the site of his arrest was put up in 1996, but it will now be eclipsed by the monumental sculpture made up of 50 steel rods of between 5m and 10m high symbolising the prison.