New York Yankees unveil new Monument Park plaque to honour the memory of Nelson Mandela

Mandela's plaque has been unveiled next to the existing tribute to Jackie Robinson, the first black player to play in Major League Baseball

The Rev. Al Sharpton, Lindo Mandela, Zondwa Mandela, Harry Belafonte, Sharon Robinson, the Rev Jesse Jackson and Rachel Robinson, wife of the late baseball great Jackie Robinson, pose with a plaque memorializing the late South African President Nelson Man (Getty Images)

The New York Yankees have honored the late Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, with a plaque in Monument Park as part of their Jackie Robinson Day festivities.

Mandela's grandson, Zondwa Mandela helped unveil the plaque that hangs next to the tribute to Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball. The ceremony was pushed back a day to Wednesday because the game between New York and Chicago was postponed by rain.

The plaque at the New York Yankees' Memorial Park that pays tribute to the late Nelson Mandela (Getty Images)

The beloved anti-apartheid activist, who ushered in reconciliation in South Africa as its president, died in December at the age of 95. Mandela spoke at the Yankee Stadium on June 21, 1990, just four months after completing a 27-year prison sentence. During his speech he declared, "You know who I am. I am a Yankee."

AP