Johannesburg saves Mandela's old law offices
JOHANNESBURG (AP) - The central Johannesburg building where Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo had a historic law office was on the verge of collapse...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The central Johannesburg building where Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo had a historic law office was on the verge of collapse. Now, city officials hope it will anchor a renaissance.
Amos Masondo, the mayor of South Africa’s largest city, on Wednesday showed off the results of 5 million rand (about $750,000) spent over the past year to turn Chancellor House into a museum and archive. Mandela and Tambo, who each would go on to lead the African National Congress, opened the city’s first black-owned law firm on the top floor in 1952 and closed it in 1960, when their political work made it impossible to keep practicing.
Masondo says he hopes private businesspeople will now be drawn to the neighborhood and help drive broader renewal.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
