Mandela House is the house in Orlando West, Soweto

Soweto

Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, that former South African president Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...

 lived in from 1946 to 1962. It is located at number 8115, at the corner of Vilakazi and Ngakane streets, as short distance up the road from the home of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...

.

Mandela donated the house to the Soweto Heritage Trust (of which he is the founder) on 1 September 1997, to run as a museum.

It was declared a National Heritage Site

National Heritage Site

A National Heritage Site is a location/site that regards a building, monument, archeological, geographical,natural or topological feature having a large value that has been registered by a governmental agency of a particular country...

 in 1999.

Features

The house is a single-story red-brick matchbox built in 1945. It has bullet holes in the walls and the facade has scorch marks from attacks with Molotov cocktails. The inside hosts some original furnishings and memorabilia including photographs, citations given to Nelson Mandela and the word championship belt given to Mandela by Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...

.

As of 2009 the property includes a visitors' centre and a small museum.

Popularity

In 1999 Soweto was the 16th most popular place for tourists to South Africa to visit and part of that popularity was ascribed to the opening of Mandela House in December 1997.

History

Mandela returned to the house after his release from prison in 1990, despite suggestions from government officials that he find a safer home. At a rally welcoming him home to Soweto his opening words were, "I have come home at last."
However, after 11 days back at the house he moved out again.

He later wrote in his autobiography:

That night I returned with Winnie to No. 8115 in Orlando West. It was only then that I knew in my heart I had left prison. For me No. 8115 was the centre point of my world, the place marked with an X in my mental geography.

Repairs

In 2007, the Soweto Heritage Trust determined that the Mandela House was in serious need of attention. Among the concerns were the physical condition of the house and its contents, the lack of any visitor facilities, the lack of training of the guides and the lack of a consistent message. There were also no formally researched exhibition content and displays.

Accordingly, in June 2008 the Trust's deed was amended to focus more exclusively on the Mandela House. A new visitor centre was commissioned, restoration work was authorised, a highly-qualified curator was appointed, and re-training of staff was scheduled. The building was closed to the public in April 2008
and construction work commenced on 18 July 2008.

It was re-opened to the public on 19 March 2009.