The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory has urged people to vote for Table Mountain to be one of the world's new seven natural wonders.

"The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, at the Nelson Mandela Foundation, supports the call to vote for Table Mountain to become one of the new Seven Wonders of Nature," the centre's chief executive, Achmat Dangor, said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We urge all South Africans to support this call, which will benefit our country as a whole."

In 1998, on declaring Table Mountain part of the Cape Peninsula National Park, Mandela spoke of how the mountain had been a beacon of hope for political prisoners on Robben Island.

"It represented the mainland to which we knew we would one day return," Mandela said.

Voting for the contest closes on Friday.