The spokesperson of the National Department of Sports, Arts, and Culture, Asanda Magaqa, confirmed to OFM News that the long-awaited renovations at the house where the struggle icon Madikizela-Mandela was banished to by the apartheid regime have commenced. This follows months after the visit by the Minister of the Department, Nathi Mthethwa, who announced at the time that there were processes in place to recuperate the funds allocated to this project and hold those who failed to execute the task to book.

This as a project to refurbish this house drew much controversy over the years, with community members alleging it was a hub of criminal activity and many accusing former Premier and now ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule of embezzling funds earmarked for it. Mthethwa, at the start of the process of turning Madikizela-Mandela’s Brandfort house into a museum, said the project will be completed by November 4.

The house was declared a heritage site in 2005, but for many years since then, it remained dilapidated with a fence and on-site security being the only recent signs of development. OFM News previously reported that former Free State ANC interim coordinator, William Bulwane, who is now the deputy chair, admitted R3 million was allocated to the project; R204,000 was spent on designs, with R2.7 million redirected to renovate the Wesleyan Church  where the ANC was established, ahead of the party’s centenary celebrations in 2012.

OFM News