Walk with a hero

Soon we will know if the tour that takes you in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela becomes a permanent fixture at Constitution Hill, but here’s the lowdown in case you missed it.

Having kicked off just one year ago, A Walk with Madiba is one of the temporary tours which takes place at the famous heritage site.

Started as a pilot to allow the public to get a closer look at the time that the late Nelson Mandela spent at the heritage site, which was once a prison, Constitution Hill will soon decide the fate of the tour at the end of the financial year.

In an attempt to find out what makes this tour different than any other, City Buzz spoke to one of the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guides at the venue, Pius Xashimba, to find out.

“It’s very different,” Xashimba began.

“It takes you through all the regular sections of the prison, but in a different way. We actually walk in the sites where Mandela, himself, walked. We start at the Old Fort, which is [dubbed] the Mandela Cell.”

The late, great struggle icon had a history of more than 55 years at Constitution Hill prison, from 1956 to 2011, and this tour is an experience in his very footsteps.

It takes you on a journey from his prison cell to his last interaction with the site after the dawn of democracy.

The tour ends at the Constitutional Court and shows the daily routine of the famous activist, in addition to the part that he played in creating South Africa’s modern Constitution.

The tour takes place on the last Thursday of each month and has, therefore, had less than 12 tours, but the response has been good and the possibility of keeping it around for more people to experience is high.

Make sure to book your next tour to walk in the footsteps of a legend.

Details: 011 381 3100; info@constitutionhill.org.za; www.constitutionhill.org.za