This is what motorists know.
The guy from the mythical structure of the Toyota Supra V12 biturbo.
The RoadTrip celebrates Madiba’s release from a criminal across the country.
A Mercedes-Benz GLS used to reflect the 30-year event.
Stops included in several monuments of Mandela.
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To celebrate Mandela’s month and his release from the criminal thirty years ago, we reinvented Madiba’s hectic life with a tour across the country in a Mercedes-Benz GLS 400d. The event included commemorating the delivery of a red Merc 500SE built for him through Daimler-Benz factory staff in east London.
On 22 July 1990, five months after his release from prison, a new red Mercedes Benz S-Class W126 logo was introduced to Nelson Mandela in a special rite at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium in Mdantsane, east London.
In front of 30,000 people, Madiba took possession of the luxury car, identified at the time as the pinnacle of automotive excellence, built for him in his spare time. As he takes office, the iconic South African stateman said the color reminded him of “the blood shed in the struggle for freedom.”
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Return to Madiba’s 30-year adventure in a Mercedes-Benz GLS (RoadTrip / Ryan Abbott)
Modest beginnings
From his humble beginnings as a shepherd in Mveso, Transkei, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela has become a prominent global president and icon. Born into the extended family of Madiba on July 18, 1918, his esteemed legacy is now celebrated worldwide on this date every year, and in the month of Mandela in July.
To commemorate these memorable and historic occasions and pay homage to the South African icon, we organized the newest Mercedes-Benz GLS. We went to Eastern Cape and arrived in Buffalo City on July 21.
We intentionally chose Stuttgart’s giant flagship SUV for our trip, because in our opinion, it would have been Madiba’s selection vehicle if he were still alive today.
Ideally, we would have liked the high-end GLS 580 4Matic for our stay. However, the 400d 4Matic AMG-Line, with its seven seats, looked wonderful at Selenite with dual-pointed AMG soft alloy wheels, Night package add-ons and an optional panoramic sunroof.
Return to Madiba’s 30-year adventure in a Mercedes-Benz GLS (RoadTrip / Ryan Abbott)
The adventure begins
The morning of Wednesday, July 22nd we were at the factory where, 30 years earlier, the 500SE Mandela-mobile had been built. We had originally planned to interview some of the staff involved in the assignment in 1990, however, due to Covid-19 regulations, we did not have access to the plant or employees.
However, we control the organization of a silver W126 500SE in the Eastern Cape region of the Mercedes-Benz Club of South Africa (thank you, Erald Hohls and Pieter Moolman). After photomago Ryan Abbott gloriously captured the S 1990 Class and the latest GLS 2020 Class in front of the factory, we set off for the first component of our adventure: Qunu, Madiba’s birthplace, and Mthatha.
Because Nelson Mandela’s life and time have been thoroughly documented, our purpose was not to bring new knowledge, but to follow in the footsteps of the tires of his red Merc. From Mdantsane Stadium, along Mandela Heritage Road to Johannesburg in Gauteng, where the car is now on display at the Apartheid Museum.
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Due to the closure, the Sisa Dukashe stadium also closed, so we joined the N2 just outside east London and headed towards the Kei River. Transkei’s mountain roads combined with glS’s rich diesel engine. With a brutal 700 Nm now available from just 1800 rpm, the bulky beast has flattened the hills and steep hillsides with mockery.
Our stopover at the Nelson Mandela Youth and Heritage Center in Qunu with its impressive downtown stopover center is brief and accurate. Open ten years after his release from prison, the museum site is recently closed for renovation and is expected to reopen next year. However, inventive Ryan controlled to sneak smart photographs of our Benz into the center.
Soon we were in Mthatha, but a stopover at the Mandela Museum in the Bhunga building, located in the bustling city center, was also sabotaged by blocking regulations. Having already been there, a stopover is in fact, as it allows those who scale to follow in the footsteps of a guy whose long march towards freedom began in the foothills of the banks of the nearest Mbhashe River.
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Return to Madiba’s 30-year adventure in a Mercedes-Benz GLS (RoadTrip / Ryan Abbott)
Excellent Underberg
From Mthatha, we continue our journey on the N2 towards Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal, before turning the R617 towards Underberg. Even in winter, the landscapes of KwaZulu were breathtaking, with the brown, bronze and red colors of the surrounding landscape in the water still reflecting the numerous lakes.
Our house for the night was well called Sani Window, as it overlooked a park and golf course in good condition and presented prospects of the foothills of the Drakensberg. Although we had to settle for a takeaway dinner, the warm hospitality of the owners and a hearty breakfast the next morning made up for it.
We stayed at the winding R617 as our next destination, the Nelson Mandela capture site next to the R103 near Howick. The low-profile rubber and the complex air suspension formula of our great Merc made it less difficult to drive fast in corners, but we had to be careful with potholes because the road was badly damaged.
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The capture site, where Madiba was arrested on August 5, 1962 and led to the trial that saw him spend the next 27 years of his life in prison, was also closed, but this time it worked in our favor. We controlled to get permission to enter, and were not allowed access to the buildings (where an Austin Westminster, similar to the one used by the police when Mandela was captured), we were on the loose to shoot outside.
Without tourists or visitors, it was an opportunity that Ryan took full advantage of. The genesis of the Capture Site assignment was the installation of a sculpture identified worldwide in reaction to the modest original plate on the other side of the road.
The sculpture, through Marco Cianfanelli and Jeremy Rose, recognizes the 50th anniversary of Mandela’s capture and consists of 50 laser-cut metal columns between 6 and 9.5 m high over a duration of 30 m. It is the largest art painting of its kind in the country and has a foreign symbol of Mandela’s iconic status.
With some photographs in the bag, we set off for Gauteng, enjoying enough grunting, flexible driving and comfortable habit on the GLS road on the N3, avoiding only for fuel at Harrismith in the Free State. Surprisingly, since we were pushing, the diesel intake of the huge SUV was less than 10 liters / 100 km.
Return to Madiba’s 30-year adventure in a Mercedes-Benz GLS (RoadTrip / Ryan Abbott)
Liliesleaf Farm
After staying at Capital on Bath in Rosebank, Johannesburg, we visited Liliesleaf Farm the next day. Located in the leafy suburbs of Rivonia, it was once the nerve center of the liberation movement in South Africa and a safe haven position for its leaders.
Opened in 2008, Liliesleaf is now one of the country’s premier award-winning heritage sites. It is a testament to the many lives that have replaced South Africa’s political landscape. However, the complex was closed, albeit by the way, while we were there with our two GLS models, we got the news of the death of Andrew Mlangeni, the last of the so-called trialists of Rivonia.
From Liliesleaf, we overlooked Casa Mandela on Vilakazi Street, Soweto; the only street in the world where two Nobel Peace Prize laureates (Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu) lived. We head to the Apartheid Museum next to Gold Reef City, south of Johannesburg, where the 30-year-old red Mercedes-Benz 500SE is now on display.
This is where the vehicle’s adventure ended, but still the newest W126 style built in East London and therefore probably in the world. It will probably also be his last abode where, as a symbol of Mandela’s immense flattery, it will be preserved for generations.
However, ours was only part of it. We still had to return to Cape Town, adding another 1400 km to the 1200 km we had already covered. However, we were on the hunt for the trip, as the GLS proved to be an incredibly competent long-distance cruiser.
At Bloemfontein, we finish the last of our responsibilities with the wonderful ‘Benz; Drive to the statue of Mandela in Naval Hill (don’t ask how we were given permission, but we have the photographs to take it out). The eight-meter-tall statue, erected in 2012, is the largest of its kind in the world in madiba’ honor.
It’s a proper last tribute to a more than life-making stationary on our long country tour. In contrast, the Mercedes-Benz GLS has also proven to be larger than life and a true style in its class. We’re sure Madiba would have approved it.
Two Mercedes-AMG models line up in this circle of related enmity with the 3.2-ton G63 versus the festival’s latest and smallest AMG, the A45 S.
We all missed a smart journey and expect it to resume abroad in the near future. In the meantime, answer this questionnaire to see if you can call cities from an internal vehicle.