- Oos-Kaap
- King Sabata Dalindyebo Platteland
- Qunu
Qunu, King Sabata Dalindyebo Platteland, Oos-Kaap
- Inligting
- Gallery (2)
Qunu is a small rural village in the Eastern Cape, on the N2, 32 km from Mthatha. It is here where former South African President, Nelson Mandela, grew up and later retired in May 2012.
It is also the place where Mr Mandela, who died on 05 December, 2013 will be laid to rest on 15th December 2013.
History
Mr Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in Mvezo, on the Mbashe River, but his father relocated to Qunu after being deposed as the Mvezo chief. It is here where he is quoted in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, as having spent the happiest moments of his childhood.
"Nature was our playground," wrote Nelson Mandela in his memoir, Long Walk to Freedom. "The hills above Qunu were dotted with large smooth rocks which we transformed into our own rollercoaster. We sat on flat stones and slid down the face of the rocks. We did this until our backsides were so sore we could hardly sit down."
Mandela's "sliding stone" is still visible today, a big granite boulder with a track worn smooth and shiny by his childhood sport nearly a century ago. It is one of the rocky outcrops overlooking the bucolic valley of Qunu, the place where he grew up and always returned.