The Nelson Mandela Building is firmly entrenched in South African history as the place where Mandela began his legal aspirations as an article clerk at the law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman in 1942. Formerly the Old Mutual building in the 1940’s, it was in this very building that Nelson Mandela met Nat Bregman, his first white friend, and where he first learned about the ideology of communism.
 
Today the 11-storey, 15,102m² building on the corner of Harrison and Commissioner Streets has been renamed after its famous tenant. The Nelson Mandela building is currently owned by CIDA City Campus, which provides higher education for socio-economic development. The building was donated to CIDA by FNB in 2006 as part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility project.  The property will be taken to auction by Auction Alliance.
 
The property is surrounded by a number of landmark properties including Corner House, Sisulu House, Standard Bank, City Hall and Beyers Naude Square and its prime position affords it with excellent exposure from the high volume of passing traffic on both Harrison and Commissioner Streets. The property’s anchor tenant is the Education Alive School who has a lease in place until 2015.
 
Comments Rael Levitt of Auction Alliance, “Taking Madiba’s ardent belief in the value and power of education into account, it is highly appropriate that this historical building is now occupied by a higher learning facility that is dedicated to the development of South African youths. Apart from the property’s superior inner city location, it offers investors with a once in a lifetime opportunity to own one of the few buildings in the country which possess such prestigious naming rights”.
 
The main entrance of the property is situated on Harrison Street, with 2 side entrances located on both Market and Commissioner Streets. The ground floor features street level shops which are all fully-let and ablution facilities are located on each mezzanine level.