Vilakazi Street, Johannesburg, South Africa

Visit duration: 1 hour Editorial visit time estimate

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

About Vilakazi Street

Vilakazi Street is a street in Soweto, the formerly segregated township that is part of Johannesburg. It is named after the Zulu poet and scholar Benedict Vilakazi, who lived along it; he was the first Black South African to teach university classes to white South Africans and, in 1946, the first Black South African to receive a PhD. The street is famous as the place where both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu once lived.

Checked 2026-11-10 · Source

What's inside

The street's best-known sight is Mandela House, the Nelson Mandela National Museum at number 8115 in Orlando West, where Mandela lived from 1946 to 1962, a short distance from Tutu House. Mandela gave it to the Soweto Heritage Trust in 1997 to be run as a museum, and it became a National Heritage Site in 1999. The single-storey red-brick house, built in 1945, still shows bullet holes and scorch marks from petrol-bomb attacks; inside are original furnishings, photographs and memorabilia, including a boxing belt from Sugar Ray Leonard.

Checked 2026-11-10 · Source

Common questions

Why is Vilakazi Street famous?

Both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu once lived on it.

When did Nelson Mandela live in Mandela House?

From 1946 to 1962.

Where it is

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Nearby

Within 32 min on foot

1 hr 30 min
5 min walk
Hector Pieterson Museum
- Must see
- Museum
30 min
15 min walk
St Martin de Porres Catholic Church
- Notable
- Place of worship
45 min
32 min walk
Orlando Towers
- Must see
- Historic site