One of the most famous addresses in Johannesburg, South Africa is 8115 Vilakazi Street, Orlando West, Soweto. The Street is named after the first black man to teach at the University of Witwatersrand, Dr BW Vilakazi, an intellectual, poet and novelist. Unfortunately, while the ‘rules’ of apartheid kept him at the level of a language assistant, he went on to obtain his PhD in Literature and helped develop the isiZulu dictionary and the written form of isiZulu and siSwati - two of the eleven official South African languages. The street also honours 12-year old Hector Pietersen who was killed by police in the 1976 student uprising against the Apartheid government. Vilakazi Street is most famously home to two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates – Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

Built in 1945, Mandela House was the home of Nelson Mandela from 1946 to 1962. And while he didn’t spend all of his life here the museum strives to tell the story of President Nelson Mandela’s family home and his life as a whole in an environment of democracy, dignity, human rights, mutual respect, reconciliation and tolerance as a world-class visitor attraction. Mandela, then a lawyer and political activist, lived here with his family, his first wife, Evelyn and, after their divorce, with his second wife, Winnie – before going on the run from the law. His family continued to live here while he was in jail.

It was such an important place to Nelson Mandela that he said, “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.”

In 2008, Nelson Mandela turned 90, and on July 18 a major restoration and restructuring of the home was begun. Construction of a new Visitor Centre, sourcing original fabrics, designing, and installing exhibitions took place and the museum reopened a year later. The Mandela House is managed by the Apartheid Museum on behalf of the Soweto Heritage Trust. While maintaining an effective, efficient, and meaningful experience for all visitors, the museum is also a leading centre for the preservation, presentation, and research of the historical heritage and Mandela Family legacy. The Mandela House was declared a Public heritage site in 1999.