Group apologises for auctioning a night in Mandela's cell

July 06, 2018 20:21

A South African organisation that was auctioning off a night in Nelson Mandela's prison cell has apologised and removed the event from its website.

The CEO SleepOut raises money for the homeless and had offered the highest bidder a night in the cell on Robben Island, where the anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner spent 18 years.

Bids had begun at $250,000 for the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

The auction raised an outcry among some in South Africa, with a Robben Island Museum spokeswoman telling local media there had been no agreement to use the cell.

"So brazenly in bad taste, there are no words," local photographer Victor Dlamini said on Twitter.

A statement offers "sincere apologies" but the organisation's website says the Robben Island event has been postponed, not cancelled.

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