Johannesburg, Sep 19 (DPA) South African political icon and former president Nelson Mandela has been awarded Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2006, according to reports on Tuesday.

The award is to be presented to the 88-year-old Nobel laureate by Nadine Gordimer, the South African author and fellow laureate, at his home in the city of Johannesburg on Nov 1, the human rights organisation said in a statement.

Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan was quoted as saying the award, which was inspired by Irish author and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, aimed to promote the work of the organisation through association with the life, personal example and work of its ambassadors.

Mandela, who spent nearly three decades in prison for opposing black oppression under white minority rule in South Africa, became the country's first democratically-elected president in 1994.

A staggering amount of awards and honours from across the world have been presented to him for opposing black oppression under white minority rule in South Africa.