Just south of Mthatha (Umtata) in the Eastern Cape, the rolling green hills of a cluster of villages known as Qunu have recently been added to the map in South Africa because of their association with Madiba. Qunu is the village where Nelson Mandela spent his childhood and it is close to Mthatha, where the Nelson Mandela Museum opened in February 2000.

Qunu falls are 80m high and display the typical raw beauty of the Eastern Cape.



All 18 communities that fall under the Qunu village have been affected positively by the recent attention. They have access to water, electricity, computer labs, libraries and pre-schools and the people, deeply rooted in Xhosa culture, are proud to have Madiba as the reason for the growth in interest and tourism. More and more tourists are adding Qunu to their itinerary and ocean liners, anchoring in East London, are sending their passengers by road to Qunu through the beautiful Great Kei River Pass.

Traditional houses in Qunu.





In Qunu the air is unpolluted and you can still see the Tembu and Xhosa women in their colourful and traditional dress with white ochre tattooed faces to protect their skins from the sun and enhance their beauty. These same pastures are where Mandela herded cattle and sheep and where you can find his retirement home and the Nelson Mandela Youth and Heritage Centre. People from all over the world are interested in visiting Qunu and the youth have plans to form a tourism organisation and to include Qunu in hiking trails in the Wild Coast area in order to encourage further tourism.

Madiba's house where he retired to in May 2012 in Qunu.

Hier is 'n kort weergawe van Madiba se lewe.