South Africa
Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites
Human Rights, Liberation Struggle and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites commemorates the struggle to end Apartheid and the emergence of the post-colonial nation.
Its experience contributed significantly to other global human rights struggles. It is a serial site of 14 components in Johannesburg (including Soweto), Pretoria and other locations in the east of South Africa, linked to events such as the Sharpeville Massacre and the proclamation of the end of Apartheid.
Community Perspective: Bernard visited 5 components in Pretoria and Johannesburg, while Lauren organized a long day trip to see some more outside of the city.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Human Rights, Liberation and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites (ID: 1676)
- Country
- South Africa
- Status
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Inscribed 2024
Site history
History of Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites
- 2023: Postponed
- Discussion postponed indefinitely "this nomination will not be examined at the extended 45th session"
- 2024: Advisory Body overruled
- From Referral to Inscribe
- 2024: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- WHS Type
- Cultural
- Criteria
- vi
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Community Information
- Community Category
- Human activity: Sites of Memory
Travel Information
Recent Connections
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Eternal Flames
Constitution Hill: Flame of Democracy…
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Nelson Mandela
Inscribed "to reflect the legacy of Nel… -
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi was imprisoned at Constitution H…
Connections of Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites
- Individual People
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Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi was imprisoned at Constitution Hill -
Nelson Mandela
Inscribed "to reflect the legacy of Nelson Mandela, who is described as an international symbol of freedom, who promoted the three tenets of human rights, liberation, and reconciliation." The components include the University of Fort Hare which he attended and Liliesleaf farm, a safe house, where he lived "under the assumed identity as a farmworker".
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- Geography
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Located in a Capital City
Union Buildings (component 001) are in Pretoria
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- World Heritage Process
- Human Activity
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Memories of recent conflicts
"The nominated property is a series of sites of memory associated with recent conflicts that illustrate the struggle of the people of South Africa as they fought for liberation from the systemic violence of the apartheid system." (AB ev)
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- Constructions
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Eternal Flames
Constitution Hill: Flame of DemocracySee lib.co.za
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Equestrian Statues
Union Buildings: statue of Louis Botha, the first PMSee en.wikipedia.org
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Prison
Constitution Hill: "This is the site of the 19th century Johannesburg Fort Prison, a place where many political prisoners were sent including Mahatma Gandhi (for a brief period in 1908)" (AB ev) -
Cemeteries
Sharpeville Sites: "All the people that died in the massacre are buried in the Phelindaba Cemetery, located two kilometres north of the Police Station. Sharpeville Graves Site A (component part 005) is a long row containing sixty-three graves, and Sharpeville Graves Site B (component part 006) is a row of six graves." (AB ev) -
Obelisk
Jongintaba Obelisk (in component 14, The Great Place at Mqhekezweni)
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- Timeline
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Built in the 20th century
"associated with a number of events in the 20th century that collectively can be seen to reflect elements of the story of the struggle for liberation from racial segregation in South Africa." (AB ev)
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- Science and Technology
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Universities
University of Fort Hare (component part 011)
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- WHS Names
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Named after individual people
Nelson Mandela
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News
No news.
Recent Visitors
Visitors of Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites
- AmyAbroad
- amychemu
- Ask Gudmundsen
- BaziFettehenne
- Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero
- Bram de Bruin
- Can SARICA
- Carlo Sarion
- Christoph
- ctravel
- Cyberczar
- CyBeRr
- Eva Kisgyorgy
- Fan Yibo
- Flexiear
- H Beswick
- Janos
- Jawnbeary
- Jay T
- Jean Lecaillon
- Jeanne OGrady
- John Smaranda
- Little Lauren Travels
- Lucio Gorla
- lynnz317@aol.com
- maryhattie
- MaxHeAnouBen
- Monica66
- Monica Tasciotti
- Nasebaer
- Paul Schofield
- Philipp Leu
- Ralf Regele
- Reza
- Rick Ohm
- Rosemary
- SirLoydd
- Solivagant
- StaziG
- stephanvermeulen
- Szucs Tamas
- Tamara Ratz
- Thomas Buechler
- Thomas van der Walt
- TimAllen
- Vanessa Buechler
- Yongcheng Liu
- Zoë Sheng
Community Reviews
Show full reviews
I organized a private day tour from Johannesburg to visit eight of the fourteen sites on the final inscription that are in or around Johannesburg: (a) Liliesleaf, (b) Constitution Hill, (c) Orlando West, (d) Walter Sisulu Square, and (e-h) the four Sharpeville sites. It would have been difficult to visit on my own, so I emailed several tour companies listed on TripAdvisor with the list of sites, and several responded that they’d be pleased to set up a tour. It ended up being a 9+ hour day and I could have taken longer in Orlando West and Liliesleaf, but overall I was pleased with the day and I feel like I have a good enough sense of the site to mark it as visited.
I am not always a fan of serial sites like this one, but I think the final inscription has a terrific mix of sites to commemorate Nelson Mandela and to teach visitors about the horrors of apartheid.
Here is more detail about the sites I visited:
- Sharpeville was the site of a 1960 massacre of peaceful protestors. It is a township over an hour (like 90 minutes in traffic) from downtown Johannesburg, and it is not often visited, particularly by international tourists. The tour company arranged a visit to the memorial (where the massacre occurred) and the police station, as well as some of the cemeteries. Locals say that the number of deaths is much higher than the 61 officially reported. The …

From what is written on what is available online regarding its nomination, South Africa did a good job with site selection and which crucial stages in the history of the movement should be included. The Nara Document on Authenticity plays a key role in developing the OUV, and it is this kind of nomination that we should see more moving forward: veering away from what can only be seen tangibly, but also focusing on what they represent and how people themselves and others can relate to it.
Growing up in the 90s, the Apartheid was an issue that was hard to miss. But, I must admit I did not fully understand it until only recently, after three separate visits to South Africa. The sites are but representative sites, and having been able to go around the country during those cherished visits, they definitely are just "flag bearers" of a deeper, more sophisticated struggle and story of victory that is global in scope, effort, and effect.
I visited (inside and outside) five sites on this recent trip namely, the Union Buildings, the Palace of Justice and the Rivonia Trial Site, the Freedom Park Memorial Site, the Constitution Hill and Truth & Reconciliation Commission, as well as Sophiatown forced removal site. In my first visit to SA in 2016, I also got to substantially explore District Six in Cape Town (my friend once owned a unit at the heart of Zonnenbloem), which is part of the nomination but is not …
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