Liliesleaf Farm

The farmhouse is located on George Avenue in Rivonia, once a remote spot in a country village, now a suburb around 20–26 km (12–16 mi) north of Johannesburg, in the Sandton area.

In 1961, the property was purchased by Arthur Goldreich and Harold Wolpe with funds from the underground South African Communist Party, to use as a safe house for political fugitives.

[1] It was acquired at a time when there was a shift in focus and tactics within the liberation movement, from passive resistance to armed struggle, when uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was established.

[2] African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela needed a safe place from which to operate, and lived there under the assumed identity as a farmworker called David Motsamayi, which was the name of one of his former clients.

[3][4] Others who met in secret at Liliesleaf included Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Denis Goldberg, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, Andrew Mlangeni, James Kantor, Ruth First, Joe Slovo, and Lionel Bernstein.

[4] The trial, which ran from October 1963 to June 1964, ended with Mandela and other prominent leaders, including Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Kathrada, Goldberg, Mhlaba, Motsoaledi, and Mlangeni being found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

There was some concern that there was a political motive in using the museum to promote the ANC, but board member Themba Wakashe said that he would not allow this to happen, as it was a site for all South Africans.

[7] The museum houses many significant historical artefacts, including the original copy of the Freedom Charter, Mandela's arrest warrant, and Oliver Tambo's pen gun.