Mahatma’s home in Jo’burg up for sale

The owner has put the house on the market after failing to attract someone with an interest in preserving its historical legacy; Gandhi lived there from 1908-1911

Mahatma's home in Jo'burg up for sale

The owner has put the house on the market after failing to attract someone with an interest in preserving its historical legacy; Gandhi lived there from 1908-1911

However, so far it has found no takers with even the Indian-origin community members showing little interest in buying it.

It's all history: A Mahatma Gandhi statue in Johannesburg.

Hidden away in the quiet suburb of Orchards, the house was designed by Gandhi's confidante and architect Hermann Kallenbach.

'The Kraal'

Its distinct thatched roofs and rondavel style gave the house its informal name The Kraal. Gandhi lived in the house with Kallenbach for three years from 1908.

The owner of the house Nancy Ball, who has been living in the house for the past 25 years, wants to move to Cape Town and she has put the house on the market after failing to attract someone with an interest in preserving its historical legacy.
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However, she did not reveal the price of the house.

She enlisted the support of Stephen Gelb, founding director of the Centre of Indian Studies in Africa at the University of Witwatersrand, on a voluntary basis, to try to find a suitable buyer.

Gelb tried to solicit the interest of prominent Indians in South Africa and even explored the possibility of Wits acquiring the property for use as a residence for visiting professors.

"There is little interest among members of the Indian-origin community and also from Wits University," said Gelb.
Ball said, "Mahatma Gandhi left a lot of his peace here. It's a very special place."

SA connection

The house in Orchards in Johannesburg is one of several legacies left behind by Gandhi in South Africa.

In Johannesburg, there is another area known as Gandhi Farm, where Mahatma Gandhi and his followers stayed and practised their philosophy of Satyagraha.

In Durban, the most famous Gandhi legacy is the Mahatma Gandhi Settlement in Phoenix, north of Durban, where Gandhi initially devised his Satyagraha philosophy.

Gandhi in SA

1893 Arrives in South Africa
1894 Natal Indian Congress is established
1903 Weekly newspaper Indian Opinion starts
1907 Non-violent resistance against compulsory registration of Asians
1914 Returns to India

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