Tourist map of Mandela sites launched in Paarl

The house at the former Victor Verster Prison near Paarl, where Nelson Mandela spent the last 14 months of his 27-year incarceration, was the venue for the launch of a new tourist map featuring sites of historical interest associated with the great man.

Located within the confines of the Drakenstein Correctional Centre, this is one of 27 places in four South African provinces that trace Madiba’s life story from his childhood, through to his life as a human rights lawyer, activist, detainee and prisoner, before ultimately being set free to take up the highest office in the country.

The map, titled Madiba’s Journey, was developed by South African Tourism in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Featured on the map are places in the Eastern Cape where he was born, grew up and attended Fort Hare University; Gauteng, where he worked as a human rights lawyer and became instrumental in South Africa’s political struggle; KwaZulu-Natal, where he was captured; and the Western Cape, where he was imprisoned and released on 11 February 1990.

The map includes well-known tourist sites, such as Robben Island and Mandela’s former home in Vilakazi Street, Soweto, along with lesser-known attractions like the Kliptown Open Air Museum, also in Soweto, which marks the spot where the Freedom Charter was adopted by the Congress of the People.

It also features the Nelson Mandela Youth and Heritage Centre in his childhood home, Qunu, where he was buried in December 2013.

For those who want to know more about the Mandela story, there is also an historical timeline which outlines milestones in his life.

Speaking at the launch, Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive Sello Hatang said the “life and times” of Nelson Mandela was not a small task to cover and capture.

Hatang shared the platform with Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk and South African Tourism CEO Thulani Nzima, who both stressed the importance of cultural and historical tourism.

Hatang said it was virtually impossible to cover every aspect of Madiba’s epic 95-year journey, as he had travelled to virtually every corner of the country before and after his imprisonment. The Madiba map connected people and continued the journey to make one man’s vision a global reality.

“It defines the fabric of our identity and what we are as South African people, within a global context. It represents a journey that crossed the length and breadth of South Africa over decades, from one century to another, and encourages us to experience some of that journey.”

Hatang said that Mandela’s legacy did not stop with this map. There were clearly more stories to be told “not only for Nelson Mandela, but for all those people who contributed to our democracy”.

The map is available both in printed format, and online at www.southafrica.net/mandela.

Click here to view a gallery of the launch event.