Nelson Mandela Capture Site

01/09/2026

27/08/2026

Members of the South African National Army College yesterday visited the Nelson Mandela Capture Site, as part of their Educational tour.

As a sign of goodwill they also came bearing gifts, after commending the Centre for the good work done by its Tour Guides.
🎉🎉🎉

25/08/2026

This Women's Month, we're spotlighting Tessa Dooms, a sociologist, political analyst, and development practitioner working to build a stronger, more active democracy in South Africa.

As Director at the Rivonia Circle, she leads work focused on youth civic engagement and democratic participation. She served on South Africa's National Planning Commission from 2015 to 2021, advising government on youth development priorities, is a Trustee of the Kagiso Trust, a host on PowerFM, and co-author of the book "Coloured: How Classification Became Culture."

Her work reflects the same spirit of active citizenship Mandela championed, and the incredible contributions women are making in communities across South Africa today.

Visit the Nelson Mandela Capture Site, museum, and sculpture. Learn about Mandela’s life and the history of apartheid at the site of Mandela’s arrest in 1962

18/08/2026

This Women's Month, we recognise the women who shaped Nelson Mandela's life: partners, daughters, and colleagues who walked beside him through struggle and leadership, and helped build his legacy.

Mandela's respect for women extended beyond his personal relationships. Under his presidency, gender equality was written into South Africa's new Constitution, and women won 27% of seats in the 1994 Parliament, ranking the country 10th in the world for female representation at the time.

"Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression." - Nelson Mandela, State of the Nation Address, 24 May 1994

Visit the Capture Site to explore more stories from Mandela's life and legacy.

thecapturesite.co.za

09/08/2026

On 9 August 1956, an estimated 20 000 women of every race marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest the extension of pass laws to black women: a law that threatened their freedom of movement, their livelihoods and their families. Organised by the Federation of South African Women, it was led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams De Bruyn.

Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom refused to meet them. Still, the women stood their ground, leaving thousands of petitions at his office and standing in silence for 30 minutes in protest.

It was one of many moments where women were at the forefront of resistance, often facing arrest, banishment and violence for their defiance. Their courage that day gave South Africa its Women's Day, and the struggle for women's safety and equality they carried is still ours to continue.

thecapturesite.co.za



©Passes Mean - 3000 ARRESTS - Photo: BAHA
©Women with babies - Photo: BAHA
©Women marching with fists up - Photo: BAHA
©Police, women marchers - No Passes for women - Photo: Wits Historical Papers
©Police, women marchers - RAKES - Photo: BAHA
©Women marching leaders of the march – Photo: Peter Magubane
©Cato Manor – Photo: Mayibuye Archives
©Charlotte Maxeke – Photo: Wits Historical Papers
©Domestic worker - Photo: Mayibuye Archives
Multiracial hands at the march - Photo: Peter Magubane

05/08/2026

On this day in 1962, Nelson Mandela was intercepted on the road outside Howick, right where the Capture Site stands today, ending 17 months on the run as the "Black Pimpernel." Posing as chauffeur under the alias David Motsamayi, he was travelling with Cecil Williams when several carloads of police pulled them over. The officer in charge saw through the disguise instantly.

How had police known exactly where to find him? It's a question asked ever since. Mandela himself suspected an informant within the ANC: a fellow MK member at his last meeting in Natal was later revealed to be a security police agent. Separately, later revelations pointed to CIA involvement. It's said an ANC traitor alerted a CIA operative stationed at the US Consulate in Durban, who reported on Mandela's movements to security police. The CIA has never confirmed this, and Mandela himself doubted the theory, writing that he couldn't lay his capture at the CIA's door, and that it was a wonder he wasn't caught sooner.

An unresolved chapter in an extraordinary story.

Visit the exact site, see the iconic sculpture and learn about Mandela's capture at our exhibition.

Open Thursday to Monday, 08:30 to 17:00.

thecapturesite.co.za

03/08/2026

Women’s Month 2026 🩶

30/07/2026

On this day in 1952, Nelson Mandela was arrested alongside 19 others and charged under the Suppression of Communism Act. Mandela was serving as Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign, launched under the joint leadership of the ANC and the South African Indian Congress.

It was the largest act of non-violent mass resistance South Africa had ever seen, with thousands of ordinary people deliberately breaking unjust apartheid laws in public and together. By December 1952, more than 8,000 had been arrested.

The Suppression of Communism Act was broad enough to criminalise virtually any organised opposition to apartheid. Mandela and his co-accused campaign leaders were found guilty of "statutory communism" and sentenced to nine months' hard labour, suspended for two years.

The campaign swelled the ANC's membership by tens of thousands and confirmed Mandela as a formidable organiser and leader. The apartheid government had taken notice. It would not be the last time it tried to silence him.

Visit the Capture Site and explore the story of Mandela's journey from activist to prisoner to president.

thecapturesite.co.za