All Penny Rose wants is to give her hero, Nelson Mandela, a beaded portrait she had made for him, but red tape has proven to be her worst nightmare

The self-taught artist who is unemployed created a beaded portrait of Mandela and has been trying to give him the artwork for months without success.

“Initially I wanted to give it to Mr Mandela himself but my attempts were in vain. I then tried SABC, the Nelson Mandela Foundation but still I did not get any (positive) response. I would (now) like to donate this to the Robben Island Museum, the reason being that is where everything took place,” says Rose

Without the help and support of her mother and brother, Rose said she would be out on the street. She has also contacted numerous newspapers to facilitate the donation, but to no avail.

Rose says sh has been battling to get a hold of Prof Bredekamp, the CEO of Iziko Museums. “I phoned Robben Island myself and got hold of his secretary Nosipho who then told me to email the picture. I then called her back and asked if she had received the picture and she told me that she did, and that she would get in touch with me. The Professor was very excited about it.” She said.

Penny who lives in Blackheath, Randburg taught herself the art of beadwork. She says the beaded porttrait of Mandela took two and half months to complete. She tore it up three times because she could not get the lines and colours right. She describes the portrait as her “interpretation of an icon.”

She says she started doing pictures of dogs and gradually moved to people. She has recently completed a portrait of 14th century Egyptian king Tutankhamen, and is currently busy with that of Nerfetiti, wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. She intends giving these artworks as gifts to her children.

"I was inspired by Madiba’s ability to keep going despite everything that had happened to him. He did so much for the South African people. I was inspired to give back to the man that gave so much. This is just something to show my gratitude,” says Rose.