Property Reporter

PARTS of Rivonia's Liliesleaf Farm, generally recognised as the birthplace of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), will be turned into a cultural precinct, boutique hotel, conference centre and leadership centre at a cost of about R130m.

The farm is steeped in history and strongly associated with the infamous Rivonia Trial in 1963, which saw the imprisonment of many senior MK leaders, among them Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba and Walter Sisulu.

Mandela also lived at Liliesleaf farm, under an assumed name, while on the run from police.

Nicholas Wolpe, CEO of the Liliesleaf Trust, which owns seven properties making up about eight acres of the original 28 acres of Liliesleaf Farm, says the trust wants to restore the historical properties on the farm and ensure the landmark attracts visitors to Johannesburg as Robben Island has attracted them to Cape Town.

Wolpe's father, Harold, was one of the leaders accused of treason, but eventually managed to escape to London before the trial.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) bought the farm in August 1961. The purchase coincided with the shift away from passive resistance by the African National Congress (ANC) to armed struggle.

Liliesleaf Farm became the nerve centre and hub from where the leadership of MK operated and from where they formulated the struggle for liberation and justice.

Wolpe says when the SACP purchased the farm, the Goldreich family fronted as the white owners . Just prior to the Goldreich family moving on to the farm, Mandela moved in, masquerading as a cook and gardener named David Motsamayi.

Wolpe says the ANC's Radio Freedom was also test-broadcast from the farm.

The police raid of Liliesleaf Farm on July 11 1963 saw the arrest of many ANC leaders, and was seen as a moral boost and victory by the apartheid state. Arthur Goldreich was arrested when he arrived later on the farm with papers needed for planned sabotage operations . Mandela was by then already in prison.

The subsequent Rivonia treason trial focused world attention on the apartheid regime.

Wolpe says there will be two components to the Liliesleaf Project: an historical-cultural precinct and a commercial precinct.

The historical component will involve the restoration of historical buildings, including the outhouse buildings where Mandela stayed, the thatched cottage where the MK high command met to discuss sabotage operations, the garage and the coal bunker built by Goldreich to hide Mandela's papers.

"We want to restore the buildings to recreate as close as possible what the historical buildings looked like in 1963," says Wolpe.

In terms of the project, Wolpe says they will also build a "struggle" library, research and archive centre which, along with the historically important buildings, will become a cultural learning precinct.

He says historical sites do not usually make money so the developers needed to find a way to earn income to ensure the long-term sustainability of the cultural precinct. To this end they plan to demolish the remaining nonhistorical buildings and build the Liliesleaf Lekgotla Retreat.

This will be modelled on the concept of Camp David and will include a five-star boutique hotel with between 50 and 70 rooms, conference facilities and the Liliesleaf Leadership Centre.

"We want to ensure there is continuity between the cultural precinct and the commercial precinct. There will be a common theme, the democratic principles of tolerance and understanding.

"We want to create a place where people, institutions, government, world leaders and business come to an environment that personifies the democratic principles," says Wolpe.

He says the commercial retreat will cost about R80m, while the library and the restoration of the historical buildings will cost about R26m. The purchase price of the seven properties was R22m, secured through dono r funding.

Wolpe says restoration work will start within the next two weeks after funding is secured from government to start the process .

It is hoped the historical site will be fully funded by government.

Wolpe says the developers are also in discussions with various investors and financial institutions in a bid to secure funding for the commercial precinct.

Oct 27 2004 08:21:33:000AM Nick Wilson Business Day 1st Edition