Liliesleaf Farm

Liliesleaf Farm, also spelt Lilliesleaf and also known simply as Liliesleaf, is a location in northern Johannesburg, South Africa, which is most noted for its use as a safe house for African National Congress (ANC) activists during the apartheid years in the 1960s. In 1963, the South African police raided the farm, arresting more than a dozen ANC leaders and activists, who were then tried and prosecuted during the Rivonia Trial.

After the end of apartheid, the property was restored and turned into a museum and national heritage site. It was closed to visitors in September 2021, but was scheduled to reopen a year later.

History

The farmhouse is located on George Avenue in Rivonia, once a remote spot in a country village, now a suburb around 20–26 km (12–16 mi) north of Johannesburg, in the Sandton area. In 1961, the property was purchased by Arthur Goldreich and Harold Wolpe with funds from the underground South African Communist Party, to use as a safe house for political fugitives. Goldreich lived there with his then wife Hazel and their two sons, Nicholas and Paul. Being white South Africans in an area reserved for white people, they did not attract attention, and provided cover for black anti-apartheid activists. It was acquired at a time when there was a shift in focus and tactics within the liberation movement, from passive resistance to armed struggle, when uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was established. Liliesleaf soon became the headquarters of MK.

African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela needed a safe place from which to operate, and lived there under the assumed identity as a farmworker called David Motsamayi, which was the name of one of his former clients. However he was arrested in Howick in August 1962 on unrelated charges (inciting workers to strike, and departing South Africa without valid travel documents). Others who met in secret at Liliesleaf included Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Denis Goldberg, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, Andrew Mlangeni, James Kantor, Ruth First, Joe Slovo, and Lionel Bernstein.

MK launched Operation O Mayibuye (aka Operation Mayibuye) from Liliesleaf. On 11 July 1963, security police raided the farm and arrested 19 members of the underground, later charging and prosecuting a number of them with sabotage. The police had learned of the location from two sources: George Mellis, who lived nearby in the Rivonia Caravan Park, noticed a number of cars going in and out of the farm area and told his family; and a police informant in MK. The activists had been meeting in the thatched room and were surprised by the raid. They had already decided beforehand to move to another safe house, with 11 July being their last meeting at Liliesleaf. The police found documents during the raid that incriminated Mandela, so he was charged and brought to trial with the others.

The trial, which ran from October 1963 to June 1964, ended with Mandela and other prominent leaders, including Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Kathrada, Goldberg, Mhlaba, Motsoaledi, and Mlangeni being found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.