Built in 1945 in Soweto, the continent’s largest informal settlement, Mandela House is a busy homestead.

Tourists stream in to catch a glimpse of the place Nelson Mandela once called home. Petrol-bombed twice, Mandela House signifies the rich history of South Africa and the struggle that Africans waged to attain their freedom from the white minority, who isolated them from the rest of the population.

In his book Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela acknowledges that the house was the opposite of his status because it had no running water, which left the family using bucket water in the bathroom.

“It was the opposite of grand, but it was the first true home of my own and I was mightily proud. A man is not a man until he has a house of his own,” he wrote.

Even though the compound was modified to accommodate another building when the home was converted into a museum, the old house is intact and decorated with artefacts and handwritten letters to his family from detention.

On the wall is a photo of Mandela with Fidel Castro.

The two bedrooms can hardly accommodate large beds synonymous with prominent families because the size and design of the houses in Soweto were dictated by the apartheid government, which did not condone any form of comfort for peasant Africans.

Known as 8115, Mandela house was constantly attacked by the apartheid government.

Mandela’s first wife, Evelyn Ntoko, is said to have been uncomfortable with spies and police brutality leading to her exit from the marriage.

Winnie Mandela stayed in the house despite the attacks for 21 years, and the family continued to occupy the house until the release of Mandela. The late South African leader relocated to a luxurious residence in Pretoria when he became president.

Inside the “master” bedroom is a small bed with a traditional bedcover, to signify the important position Mandela’s father, a traditional chief held.