Mandela home to become museum

CAPE TOWN: Nelson Mandela signed over his Cape Town home to be used as a living museum. The house was Mandela's only residence outside of prison. The former South-African president spent 27 years in prison. Wednesday 20 August 2008

Former South African President Nelson Mandela on Wednesday signed his Cape Town home over to the city for use as a living museum.

Jakes Gerwel, chairman of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, one of Mandela's three charity organisations, said the house had been Mandela's "only home outside of prison in the Western Cape."

The nobel peace prize laureate, who was South Africa's first black president, spent 27 years imprisoned in jailhouses in the province by the white minority apartheid government.

A frail, but smiling Mandela sat through Wednesday's proceedings without speaking.

City premier Lynne Brown said the project would see Mandela's home become "our investment for young people" and would in future host youth leadership programmes.

The Foundation also announced that Mandela's prestigious scholarship programme had been boosted by major donations, including 10.5 million rand (1.3 million US dollars) from South Africa's Absa Bank and 2.5 million pounds (4.6 million dollars) from the London-based Leverhume Trust.

The donations would provide a further 13 scholarships a year for young Africans.