ICON’S FORMER RESIDENCE NOT ONLY ONE NEGLECTED

NELSON Mandela’s house in Alexandra is not the only neglected home of South African stalwarts.

After years of empty promises, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa said in April that the government would renovate Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s Brandfort house in the Free State.

Madikizela-Mandela spent nearly a decade at the house on Mothupi Street in Majwamasoeu Township.

Mthethwa introduced the appointed contractor to commence with the restoration of the house and the bombed clinic.

The plan was to convert the house and clinic to interpretative spaces and a multipurpose centre with Wi-Fi facilities.

The initial announcement that Madikizela-Mandela’s house would become a heritage site was made in 2005 and the project was supposed to be completed by January 2015.

There has, however, been some success in the initiative to preserve the historical homes of Struggle stalwarts.

World-renowned author and traditional healer Credo Mutwa and his family moved into a large refurbished home in Kuruman, Northern Cape.

On November 22, Mthethwa handed over the home to Mutwa following the minister’s 2017 visit to the Credo Mutwa Museum and Library in Kuruman.

During that visit, it was brought to his attention that the roof at Mutwa’s home was in a bad condition and that the home was dilapidated. Mthethwa said the refurbishment of Mutwa’s home was part of the department’s programme to recognise and celebrate those who contributed to the new South Africa.

Last year, the chairperson of the portfolio committee on basic education and former Northern Cape MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Bongiwe MbinqoGigaba, announced the first phase of the renovations to the former law office of Struggle stalwart Robert Sobukwe in Kimberly.

The office was declared a heritage site in 2005 and renovated in 2012 with about R67 000 reportedly spent on the project.