ETW Staff– Mumbai
South African Tourism has launched a Mahatma Gandhi inspired tourist attractions in Johannesburg. The Gandhi Inspired tourist attractions identifies a number of places that were seminal in Gandhi’s life in South Africa. Identifying these places enables people from all over the world to come and walk in his footsteps, and experience the places where Gandhi made history in South Africa.
South African Tourism has included 13 attractions accessible to tourists and to the global travel trade who sell South Africa packages. Hanneli Slabber, country manager, South African Tourism– India, said, “We believe the attractions will be very informative to both South African and international visitors and will resonate particularly with those who wish to learn more about Gandhi’s South African experience. This will not only tells its own compelling story, but can also be integrated into a wider visitor experience by highlighting places where Gandhi created history – Constitution Hill and Johannesburg’s Old Fort Prison, a jail where Gandhi and Madiba (Nelson Mandela) were held and many more.”
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi led India to independence from colonial British rule in 1947. He spent the formative years of his life in South Africa, having come to this country in 1893 as a 24-year-old, and leaving 21 years later in 1914. Central to his immense contribution to human rights was his Satyagraha movement of passive resistance, whose enduring impact continues to shape global history today and whose principles he developed whilst living in South Africa.
The launch event, at Mahatma Gandhi’s Johannesburg home, was attended by Indian Acting High Commissioner to South Africa, T Armstrong Changsan; deputy director of immovable heritage at the city of Johannesburg and author of Gandhi’s Johannesburg: Birthplace of Satyagraha, Eric Itzkin; and South African Tourism chief executive officer, Thulani Nzima.
