Mandela’s grave site to be opened to tourists
Former president Nelson Mandela’s grave site in Qunu, Eastern Cape, will undergo heavy renovations before being opened to the public as a new tourist attraction within the next 12 months.
The opening of the tourist attraction will form part of a number of events celebrating Mandela’s 100th birthday including a letter writing event and the release of a sequel to Mandela’s bestselling autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom”, said the Nelson Mandela foundation’s Tokyo Sexwale.
Sexwale, who was premier of Gauteng during Mandela’s presidency, said Mandela “epitomises a feeling of unity in a country where today there is discord”. However he also noted that in recent times South Africa appeared to have lost its way and needed to “recalibrate”.
The plan was welcomed by the ruling party according to ANC Eastern Cape spokesman Mlibo Qoboshiyane. Speaking in the the 14 February edition of The Sowetan, Qoboshiyane said that grave would “unlock huge tourism potential in the province.”
Qoboshiyane noted that the Eastern Cape provincial cabinet had already approved the Qunu development and that the new site, alongside Mandela’s birthplace in Mvezo, Chris Hani’s birthplace in Cofimvaba, and Oliver Tambo’s birthplace in Mbizana, would form part of the new “liberation heritage trail”.
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