Putting Mandela on the Map

Yesterday, I ate ribs at Mandela’s house.

That’s a sentence I never thought I’d say. But it’s true. I was honoured to cover the launch of the new Mandela Map, a project by South African Tourism in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

The event was held in the garden of Madiba’s old house at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre – what used to be the Victor Verster Prison. This is the house where Madiba spent the last 14 months of his 27-year incarceration, and the one from which he began his famous walk to freedom on 11 February 1990. The event was well attended, well put together, and the ribs were delicious, by the way.

Event MC Terry Pheto played Mandela's first wife in the film Long Walk To Freedom

Of course, the experience would have been all the more enjoyable had the great man still been around to attend. I never had the chance to meet Madiba, but like many others, whenever I'm in a place of any significance to him, I treat it with a hallowed respect.

The house itself is nothing special. The style of architecture is old, the fixtures and fittings are quite dated, and of course, there are no inscriptions, personal belongings, or any real signs of his presence left.

But, sitting in his chair, one can imagine what it must have been like in those final days, tantalisingly close to freedom, yet burdened with the unenviable task of negotiating peace and an end to apartheid still ahead.

A fairly normal-looking house, except for one detail: the windows are tinted so that anyone inside can see out, be those outside can't see in. Many staff of the prison had no idea Mandela was on site until the final days of his stay at the house

Music for the event was provided by the Mark Fransman Trio. Here's Mark and I reclining in the lounge of Mandela's house

This exercise in imagination was made all the more easy thanks to the incredible insights of Manfred Jacobs, our tour guide for the day. His stories took a fairly ordinary house and completely brought it to life.

The lemon tree that Mandela planted

Manfred's ex-colleague and mentor was one Jack Swart, the man known as The Last Warder, who looked after Mandela on a daily basis, prepared his meals, and formed a close bond with him (you can read more about him on the Nelson Mandela Foundation's website).

Manfred relayed fascinating insights into the kind of person Mandela was, and his friendship with Swart. For instance, Madiba would leave notes for Swart and one day mentioned that there was a mouse in the house (he wrote to him in Afrikaans, so a "muis in die huis"). Swart thought he wanted it removed, and laid a mousetrap for it the next night, which killed the mouse. The next morning Mandela was furious, and explained that he hadn't asked for it to be killed. The next time Mandela spotted a mouse, he worded his next note, "Our friend, the mouse, is in the house."

Mandela never swam in the pool, but he was kept company by a family of ducks that would visit from a nearby farm. And during times when he needed to clear his head, he'd stand in the garden looking towards the Drakenstein Mountain, which to him seemed like a giant lying down, his big belly visible, hands clutched over the family jewels, knees bent, staring at the sky.

Mandela also planted a lemon tree, and Manfred's theory about how the song Lemon Tree by Fool's Garden matched Mandela's philosophy on life was a real delight.

Mandela wasn't much of a swimmer, but he go for a dip every now and then. He much preferred looking out towards the Drakenstein Mountain. Imagine a giant lying down, looking up, with his head on the left

The main bedroom was too large for Mandela, who had been used to a much smaller space in prison. This is the actual bed in which he slept

The tour of the house ended in the main bedroom. It was very large, and Manfred explained how Mandela only stayed there for three nights before the size became uncomfortable for him and he moved to the much smaller study down the passage (he had become accustomed to a small cell for most of his life).

I admit that I walked past the study a few times without thinking much of it, and it reminded me of the humility of the man. To trace his steps around this humble home was a real honour. Striving to follow in his footsteps is the greater lesson to take home.

The statue of Madiba outside the main gate of the Drakenstein Correctional Centre. Note the prison bars bending outward to signify freedom, and the black and white marble from Robben Island, showing racial reconciliation. There's also barbed-wire detail, and the statue itself sits in a teardrop-shaped island

Madiba's Journey

The Mandela Map content was compiled by Flow Communications, and the website was created in a record 10 days. Melanie Feris, who headed the project, says the project was really worthwhile.

"We produced the bulk of the site content – that meant lots of research. We spent hours checking and rechecking GPS co-ordinates, confirming contact details, the opening and closing times of the sites, sourcing pictures and more. The interactive online map, Madiba's Journey, is now live, and it was a thrill to see it published."