The Mandela Route in the Rest of the Country

Other Sites of Interest Around the Country

While the majority of the must-see sites on the Mandela Route fall in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng or Western Cape, there are a few notable exceptions.

In KwaZulu Natal

• Nelson Mandela Capture Site
  Where? Howick, Natal Midlands

  The Capture Site has captured the imagination of the world. It's a must-do for any visitor to Durban or the Midlands. The Capture Site marks the spot of Mandela's arrest on 5 August 1962. You'll start in a little museum that gives details of how this happened on the R103 road, 5 km outside of Howick. At the time he was disguised as David Motsamayi - his name on his Ethiopian passport issued so that he could travel to muster support for Umkhonto we Sizwe (Mandela had gone underground since June 1961, hiding in different places around the country). After the museum, follow the fairly long walk to the impressive sculpture that is a monument to Mandela. The work, by Marco Cianfanelli, consists of 50 steel columns between 6 and 10 metres high, arranged next to one another in an apparently random collection until you get 35 metres away and his profile appears.

• Inanda Heritage Route
  Where? Inanda Township, outside of Durban

  Inanda is a generous, green valley just outside Durban. It's also known as the Freedom Valley as it's where the seeds of the country's liberation were sown. Inanda is where Gandhi built his Phoenix settlement, it is the spiritual home of the Shembe religion, it is the birthplace of John Dube – the ANC's first president – and it is where Nelson Mandela cast his vote in the country's first democratic elections. Take a guided tour. The route is not a signposted cohesive route, but a series of sites linked on a theme. You'll need the guide.

• Ohlange Institute
  Where? Inanda Township, outside of Durban

  Inanda, where the Ohlange Institute is based, is regarded by many as the 'cradle of democracy in South Africa'. It is where John Dube (founder of the South African Native National Council, the precursor to the ANC) was born, and where Mandela cast the country's first democratic vote in 1994. It is also believed to have more history per square centimetre than anywhere else in South Africa (Gandhi lived but a few streets away and the two men met several times). See the Ohlange Institute as part of the Inanda Heritage Route, with a guide.

• Albert Luthuli Museum
  Where? Stanger

  The links between Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela are numerous. Mandela is seen as Luthuli's protégé, they were both considered outstanding leaders of their time, both received Nobel Peace prizes and both served as presidents of the ANC. Both advocated non-violence, reconciliation and nation-building, even when things in South Africa were at their most hostile. The Albert Luthuli Museum is also on the Inanda Heritage Route.

"I waited for over seventy years to cast my first vote. I chose to do it near the grave of John Dube, the first President of the ANC."

In Limpopo

• Shambala retreat, now Zulu Camp
  Where? Waterberg

  Douw Steyn, who hosted Mandela at what is today the Saxon Hotel where Mandela edited his Long Walk to Freedom, also built a private escape for Mandela and his third wife, Graça Machel, on his private game farm on the edge of the Sterkstroom River. Today it is a nine-chalet safari camp.

In Free State

• Naval Hill
  Where? Bloemfontein

  Up on the top of Naval Hill, overlooking the city of Bloemfontein, is the biggest statue of Mandela in the country, at eight metres.