The role of Liliesleaf farm in the apartheid struggle spans just three years, but the events that took place at the innocuous looking homestead in the midst of the affluent northern suburb of Rivonia were dramatic.

Bought in 1960 by the South African Communist Party on behalf of the African National Congress (ANC), Liliesleaf was the former secret headquarters of the ANC’s military wing, MK, or Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).

Made infamous by a police raid that led to the Rivonia treason trial and resulted in Nelson Mandela, along with eight other ANC leaders, being convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment, a visit to Liliesleaf farm is fascinating and disturbing.

Great effort has gone into preserving the authenticity of the site and the museum’s content is state-of-the-art and highly interactive. The gravitas of what Liliesleaf signifies - the ANC leadership’s conscious decision to take up arms to win the liberation struggle – is never lost among the museum’s ‘whodunit’ exhibits.

Liliesleaf’s new structures have been integrated eloquently into the existing historical site and visitors are challenged to consider thorny moral and political dilemmas, among them the difficult subject of violence as a route to peace.

Address: 7 George Avenue, Rivonia