Mahatma Gandhi once said “My life is my message” implying that his legacy would be the spoken word alone and not a tangible object, however, those who cherished the man felt the need to remember the sites touched by him during his years in South Africa and have restored the home he lived in between 1908 and 1909. The house is located in Johannesburg and named Satyagraha House or Gandhi House, and although he resided here for a short time, it was during this period that he formulated his concept of passive political resistance that he referred to as Satyagraha, an expression in Hindi Sanskrit meaning by force of truth.

Gandhi’s good friend Hermann Kallenbach, a successful Architect, built the home which he called the Kraal. Both he and Gandhi shared the home and Gandhi was later to convince Kallenbach to simplify his life. Both left the home in 1909 and travelled to Durban where Gandhi was jailed on several occasions for defying his colonial masters, while Kallenbach secretly assisted him in establishing his passive resistance ideology amongst the local Indian community.

In 2009 a French company purchased the home, restored it and in 2011 it was opened as a guest house and living museum. Those fortunate enough to stay here agree that the home is conducive to self-reflection and emanates a feeling of peace.

Gandhi was true to his word and did leave an oral legacy that was to have a massive impact on both South African and Indian history and it’s amazing to think that the seeds were sown right here, in such a simple place.