South Africa has issued a black-and-white commemorative stamp to celebrate the life and legacy of anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, who died last year.
The souvenir stamp, which displays a greying and smiling Mandela, was launched on the 24th anniversary of his release from nearly three decades in apartheid prisons.
The portrait of the father of South African democracy was taken a few years before his death on December 5 and the stamp commemorates his "life and legacy", according to the South African Post Office.
"It's just a picture of Mr Mandela and it shows him in advanced years ... but it shows him as a wise person, which he was," said Johan van Wyk, a manager with the post office.
Five million stamps have been produced by a printing company in the Netherlands.
They can be ordered online or bought over the counter from post offices in South Africa for 50 rand each ($A5).
Of the purchase price, two rand (20 cents) will be donated to his foundation, the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory.
Mandela was an ardent letter-writer during his incarceration, despite the prospect of the letters being censored.
He walked free from prison on February 11, 1990, after 27 years behind bars before becoming South Africa's first black president in 1994.
