Rush to repair museum before Madiba's big day

Nelson Mandela's historic open-air museum at Mvezo, unveiled 10 years ago, lay in ruins for more than a year - until workers this week began massive repairs.

The museum, which features pictorial plaques capturing moments in Mandela's life and famous quotes, is situated near the winding banks of the Mbhashe River in Mvezo, the Eastern Cape village where Mandela was born.

The repairs have been carried out just days before President Jacob Zuma, foreign guests and international and local media visit Mvezo to celebrate Mandela's birthday today.

The museum was the first of three built in the province commemorating Mandela's 10th anniversary of his release from prison.

On Thursday and Friday, about 10 workers were repairing the once-picturesque structure, which also featured a look-out deck.

The bent steel plaques, fallen wooden screens and crumbling cement were repaired.

Mandela's grandson, Chief Mandla Mandela, who oversees all matters in Mvezo, could not be reached for comment.

But villagers said tourists, who travelled more than 40km on a dirt road were horrified at the state of the museum, which was earmarked to become a National Heritage Site. The villagers said the museum was never maintained or guarded.

In October last year, the Sunday Times reported that Chief Mandla Mandela had angered the board of the Nelson Mandela Museum by defiantly pushing ahead with plans to develop his own multimillion-rand museum, funded by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.