Nelson Mandela is worth a fortune. The world's most beloved statesman and most famous ex-con is an obvious target for merchandising, and with his 80th birthday being celebrated across the world, there are many who would like to make a fast buck out of him.

Most of these are opportunistic entrepreneurs, but some are just ordinary folk trying to fill their bellies. Walk through any fleamarket or souvenir store and you'll be able to buy anything from souvenir plates, fabric with his portrait, to aprons, salt shakers and fridge magnets which bear his likeness.

He may not be ranked in any indexes of brand names or trademarks but his is a face instantly recognisable around the world. And that's marketing gold.

Mandela's paraphernalia gained something of a cult status while he was imprisoned on Robben Island, a treasured and illegal emblem of an incarcerated hero.

When he was elected the country's first black president in 1994, everybody from Time magazine to corner cafs used Madiba images to sell themselves and promote the euphoria of the rainbow nation. Since then Mandela's life has been chronicled in innumerable glossy coffee table books and on the backs of uncountable T- shirts, both in his banned days and his presidency.

And then there was the Rugby World Cup the year after. No single rugby star could ever have done more for the sale of Springbok jerseys.
Apart from the traditional royal revenue that the British crown attracts, especially the late Princess Diana, no other global leader commands anywhere near the money-generating stature. Imagine trying to wear a Bill Clinton apron with the American flag in the back-ground?
Although Mandela's characteristic taste for flashy shirts has faded - and only the socially out-of-touch still invite you to "Madiba-smart" functions - Mandela is a constant source of new ideas for adverts and newspaper stories.

The Madiba jive, a haphazard array of dance steps and shuffles which one newspaper published in a choreographed sequence, gained popular cult fame in the way the macarena wished it could.

South African Airways is one of many local companies to latch on to the great man's extrovert public appearances, with an ad depicting a range of world leaders falling asleep at public functions while Madiba is smiling and dancing.
But can you copyright a face? And one as famous as Madiba's.

Mandela's spokesman Parks Mankahlana says there's little the president's office can do to stop the use of his image or name.
They can discourage his face being used for financial gain - in line with a 1941 Act that prohibits the use of the president's image for commercial purposes - but it would be overwhelmingly time-consuming.

Personally Mandela doesn't have problems with the marketing spin-offs, Manka-hlana says. Charities and trust funds often apply to the president's office to use his name in their fund- raising efforts.
"From the president's point of view, each and every cent raised as a result of memorabilia or merchandise should be used for charity purposes, such as the children's fund and a number of other causes, especially the Red Cross Children's Hospital.

"It would be pleasant if everyone using the president's image made some kind of contribution [to the charities]. Their coffers would benefit and the money would be used to uplift one or two people, it doesn't matter how many."
Merchandising, once the lowly marketing side-kick of other commercial interest, is now the biggest commercial money spinner - as Disney, fashion designers and McDonald's can tell you. Globally the merchandising market is worth billions and has commanded its own form of economic theory.
For the man-in-the-street, trying to make some extra cash, Madiba is a gold mine. Why develop a new brand when you can just piggy-back on another one?

So what's next? Madiba and Graa figurines? Is it curtains for Barbie and Ken?