[4][5] Walters had previously created the bust of Mandela located on the South Bank in London.

[6] Fellow sculptor Glyn Williams criticised the statue at a public inquiry during the planning process, saying that it is "an adequate portrait but nothing more".

[6] Woods gained approval from Mandela in 2001, with the original idea to site the statue on a fifth plinth to be located outside the High Commission of South Africa in Trafalgar Square.

The Mayor appealed to the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which agreed with the council's decision.

[11] The statue was unveiled by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 29 August 2007, in a ceremony held in Parliament Square.