Liliesleaf Farm

Liliesleaf Heritage Site in Rivonia

© South African Tourism

• Email
• Tweet
• Print

Liliesleaf Farm was for many years a meeting place and hide-out for top African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) personnel.

Liliesleaf Farm is widely regarded as the birthplace of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and was the site of the infamous Liliesleaf Farm police raid on 11 July 1963 that resulted in the Rivonia Treason Trials and eventual incarceration of many senior ANC leaders, including Nelson Mandela (who was not arrested in the raid), Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba and Walter Sisulu.

The South African Communist Party bought the farm in August 1961 to use as headquarters for their efforts against the apartheid regime. At the same time, the ANC was moving its emphasis away from passive resistance and beginning to focus more on an armed struggle.

The Goldreich family moved in to masquerade as the white owners of the property and Nelson Mandela himself lived here while posing as a cook-cum-gardener under the name of David Motsamayi.

The trustees of the Liliesleaf Farm Museum want this landmark to rival Robben Island as an historical tourism attraction. Its aim is to create a unique facility that will ensure the preservation of the history and legacy of the farm.

The first phase of the Liliesleaf Farm Museum opened in 2008 and the full plan is to eventually have a boutique hotel, conference facilities, museum and learning centre on site.

Currently a number of travelling exhibitions visit the facility which also has plenty of educational projects under way. There is also a  60-seater conferencing facility and resource centre available, with catering provided.