Gandhi and Mandela both began their crusades against injustice in Johannesburg, a city where historic buildings and places still map their journeys towards liberation. Half a century before the young Mandela's political history began in earnest, Gandhi launched his struggle, developing his technique of satyagraha (passive resistance or 'truth force'). Both men started out as lawyers for the downtrodden.
Gandhi became Johannesburg's first Indian attorney in 1903, establishing his law practice at the corner of Rissik and Anderson streets, opposite the courts. His offices soon became a haven for victims of discrimination, with a series of anti-Indian laws bringing many desperate clients to his doors.
A few blocks away and some 50 years later, Mandela and his friend Oliver Tambo opened their law firm in 1952. Their partnership was South Africa's only firm of African lawyers at that time, making them the first and last resort for countless victims of apartheid.
"To reach our desks each morning," Tambo recalled, "Nelson and I ran the gauntlet of patient queues of people overflowing from the chairs in the waiting room into the corridors. Every case in court, every visit to prisons to interview clients reminded us of the humiliation and suffering burning into our people."
Gandhi's offices were in Court Chambers, which derived their name from the law courts across the road. The building was ideally placed for lawyers' offices. The High Court and old Magistrate's Courts were located in Government Square (now Gandhi Square), at the southern end of Rissik Street. The old...
