Right in the heart of Soweto is a famous lane that stretches a little over 450 metres.

Vilakazi Street is arguably the most famous road in South Africa.

Full of activity, and swarmed by tourists, it is home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners. 

Nelson Mandela, whose redbrick, five-roomed house is now a museum, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu both lived on the street.

Tutu was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts in fighting apartheid. Mandela, who was South Africa’s first black president, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Madiba, as Mandela was popularly known, lived on Vilakazi Street from 1946 to 1961. He stayed in the house with his first wife, Evelyn Mandela, until their divorce in 1958.

The house has been converted into a national monument, and now No. 8115 Vilakazi Street is a popular stop for visitors.

The street was named after Dr B W Vilakazi, one of South Africa’s earliest black poets and novelists. Dr Vilakazi, whose main works include three novels and several volumes of poetry, was also the first black man to lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

The first building on the street is Tutu’s house. It is painted light grey and enclosed by high walls, but bears no clear sign that a legendary figure once lived inside it.

A Johannesburg resident, Precious Govuza, who has visited the street four times, says South Africa’s Independence started there.

“Every time I have a visitor from outside South Africa, I take them to Vilakazi Street in Soweto and I tell them this is where our Independence was birthed.

“I’ve seen a hole where a bullet hit Mandela’s house as the apartheid regime tried to eliminate Tata Madiba,” she says.

The house is now the Mandela Family Museum and listed among South Africa’s heritage sites. The museum is open to the public for tours on weekdays.

Inside, the house is decorated with photographs of a young Mandela, his children, other African National Congress stalwarts and his former wives.

On display are gifts the iconic leader received from across the world, and honorary doctorates from international universities.

Tour guide Xolelwa Thwala says the much-loved house was revamped to become a museum.

“The house came under attack many times before Mandela went to prison. He spent many nights on the kitchen floor because it was safer there.

“Shortly before Mandela’s release, Winnie (Madikizela-Mandela) made sure the house was renovated to welcome him back,” she says.

At the end of the road is one of the most famous schools in Soweto, Orlando West High. The school was one of the most active during the June 16, 1976 student protests. On the corner of Moema and Vilakazi Street is the intersection where Hector Pieterson was killed by apartheid police. Pieterson was the first victim of the June 16 students’ uprising, a key event in the struggle against apartheid.

A photograph of the dead boy, captured by Sam Nzima, sent shock waves around the world. The Hector Pieterson Museum was later built close to the site.