Mandela House, Soweto

Vilakazi Street in Soweto is the only street in the world where two Nobel laureates have lived, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Mandela House on the corner of Vilakazi and Ngakane Streets in Soweto was built in 1945. Nelson Mandela lived here with his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase, from 1946 until their divorce in 1957. After their divorce, he was joined in the house by his second wife, Nomzamo Winifred Madikizeia (Winnie Mandela). In 1961 he was forced to go underground, until his arrest and imprisonment in 1962. He only returned to the house for a brief 11 days in 1990, after his release from the Robben Island prison.

In 1997, Mandela donated the house to the Soweto Heritage Trust, to be run as a museum. From April 2008 to March 2009, Mandela House was closed for renovations. The restored house and museum reflect the various eras during which the Mandelas lived here through a combination of sound, film, original artifacts and memorabilia.

Mandela House, Soweto

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