Africa

[Visited: July 2024]

It was clear that we needed a break on our long drive from Lesotho to eSwatini, and the Capture Site turned out to be the perfect spot. We cross the border just after opening time, and are surprised by a long stretch of a particularly bad gravel road entering South Africa. It takes several more hours over mostly empty roads to reach our destination. When we get out of our car, we see a large group of young South African students seated on the grass. They surely came here for their education. Our primary reason to come here was to see the memorial for Mandela, but it turns out that there is a museum as well. When we enter, we immediately see a replica of the black Austin Westminster car which Mandela was driving, pretending to be a chauffeur. He was captured very close to where the museum now is, and he would be in prison for 27 years until his release in 1990.
On the walls, we see several quotes from Mandela, like this one: "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison". Next to it, we see a work of art, made of many thousands of beads, representing a young Mandela before his capture. We walk into the main hall of the museum, where we find a display giving more insight into the story. The reality of apartheid, the resistance by people of colour to this system, the efforts to suppress this resistance, the leaders standing up and standing out to try and change a system that defined society and that seemed to stay put forever. The release of Mandela, the steps former president De Klerk took to make change possible (both men would be rewarded the Nobel Peace Prize for it), the first elections accessible to all, and the victory of the former political prisone
It is a very impressive display, and makes you realize how much the country has managed to change. On our way out, we see a simple work of art on the wall: counting all the 9377 days are represented by a single line on a white sheet of paper. Outside, we follow the Long Walk to Freedom, a path leading down the slightly sloping field. Along the way, there are markers telling the story of the life of Mandela, and the events of the struggle against apartheid. At the end of the path, the memorial of the great leader rises on a platform. Fifty steel poles, all of different shapes, have been erected here under guidance of its artist Mario Cianfanelli, representing the fifty years after the capture of Nelson Mandela. When you stand at the right distance and look with the right angle, you clearly see the profile of the great man. The monument was erected in 2012, the capture site is just behind it. It is a unique and elegant salute to a monumental leader who took his country a big leap ahead.

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Mandela Capture Site (South Africa)

Mandela Capture Site > South Africa > Africa

[Visited: July 2024]

Around the World in 80 Clicks