The Nelson Mandela Foundation has distanced itself from the 1994 ballot paper that is said to be worth R50 000 that was apparently signed by the late former president. The foundation's director of communications and outreach‚ Neeran Naidoo‚ said it was not aware of a signed ballot paper from 1994."It was not a project of the foundation. We do not have the expertise to authenticate the signature or the ballot paper‚ nor comment on its value‚" said Naidoo.TMG Digital reported on Thursday that Jeremy Marten from Fish Hoek has listed this rare piece of political memorabilia on Gumtree‚ with an asking price of R50 000.The sale was listed on July 7 and Marten said that only two people had approached him in relation to the specific sale.He said he and his brother are antiques collectors‚ and they bought the ballot paper from another collector three years ago. He declined to divulge the initial price.“We bought it because it’s a beautiful piece of our country’s history and Mandela left a beautiful legacy‚” said Marten.When asked if he was not scared of being condemned for cashing in on the global icon’s name‚ he said a lot of people were selling items bearing Mandela’s name. “We are selling a lot of stuff that is not Madiba-related and it’s just a coincidence that the sale went up just before election time.”Martens said that he would love to see it end up on display in a museum or public space of some kind.He is confident of his price because‚ in 2011‚ a 1994 ballot paper signed by former presidents Madiba‚ FW de Klerk and Thabo Mbeki sold on auction for R80 000‚ he said.Clare Cobbledick‚ the marketing head for Gumtree SA‚ said: “There’s always a spike in interest for politically connected items during election periods and anything related to President Mandela automatically generates interest on the site.“And when actually searching‚ we found a huge amount of gold Mandela coins‚ a Mandela and [former Springbok captain Francois] Pienaar-signed 1995 World Cup rugby shirt and a few canvas portraits‚” Cobbledick said.Marten on Thursday made it clear that the money would not assist any charity. He said he hopes that the ballot paper will land in hands that will preserve it for future generations. - TMG Digital..