City Hall’s Nelson Mandela exhibition

Curator tour of the award-winning Nelson Mandela in the Cape Town City Hall. Katharine McKenzie leads this tour. She met Mandela and was a behind-the-scenes participant in South Africa’s constitutional negotiations. Katharine was a central figure in the exhibition’s strategy, research and curation. Some say it is better than visiting Robben Island. It was commissioned by former Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille to mark Mandela’s 100th birthday.

It tells the story of:

• Mandela’s first visits to Cape Town in the 1940s and 1950s
• How Mandela’s release unfolded on 11 February 1990
• The days and years leading up to this historic moment
• The negotiations for a democratic constitution that followed
• In Harrington Street, Mandela’s connection to District Six and the wider history of forced removals and resistance during apartheid
• The former Caledon Square Police Station in Buitenkant Street and its role during the apartheid era
• Desmond and Leah Tutu House (formerly known as the Old Granary) and the Old Drill Hall (now Cape Town Central Library), with their connections to Nobel Peace Prize laureates Desmond Tutu and Albert Luthuli
• Cape Town City Hall, its bronze statue of Nelson Mandela facing Grand Parade, and the site of Mandela’s first public speech after his release in 1990
• The exhibition itself, where most of the tour takes place and where the story of Mandela’s journey and South Africa’s democratic transition unfolds in greater detail

It honours Capetonians from many walks of life who joined the struggle for freedom from Apartheid, helping to change history.

When FW De Klerk told Nelson Mandela of his imminent release in February 1990, Mandela strongly objected to the terms. De Klerk planned to fly him directly to Johannesburg, but in his autobiography, Mandela declined.

“I wanted to walk out of the gates of Victor Verster and be able to thank those who looked after me and greet the people of Cape Town. Though I was from Johannesburg, Cape Town had been my home for nearly three decades” Mandela in Long Walk to Freedom

What followed was the rapid mobilisation of Cape Town’s activist community to find a fitting venue for Mandela’s first public address since his sentencing at the Rivonia Trial in 1964.

Come and find out more.

Date: Friday, 29 May 2026
Time: 10am to 12pm
Cost: R300 (early bird single) R500 (early bird for two) — book & pay before 19 May | R400 (standard single) R600 (standard for two)
Location: Wild Eatery, 59 Harrington Street, District Six, Cape Town, 7925 (opposite New York Bagels and next to Nude Foods)
Book: Booking is essential due to the limited group size. Enquire or reserve via mobile: +27 (0)72 377 8014 or Email: kate@cultureconnectsa.com