South African Home of to be Sold

January 7 - The South African home that was once the residence of Mahatma Gandhi is back on the property market.

An Indian state-controlled company based in Kolkata, named Coal India Limited, is trying to buy the property for the second time.

The property that Gandhi lived in for three years in the early 1900s was owned by Gandhi's business partner, Henry Pollak.

Gandhi moved into the house at 34 Grove Road, Johannesburg after living in rooms behind his office is Rissik Street for some time.

In August 2009, the owner first decided to sell the property and Coal India made their first attempt to buy it.

The owner decided to sell to a different buyer, but that deal fell through when it was discovered that the property was not officially registered.

The owner spent some time sorting out the official registration and now that it is in order, the property is back on the market.

Sriprakash Jaiswal, representative for Coal India and also India's coal union minister is scheduled to visit Johannesburg soon.

Jaiswal stated: "The owner of the house has expressed her willingness to talk to us regarding our proposal to buy Gandhi's house and build a memorial there. I will leave for official work in Mozambique and South Africa on January 4 and will talk to her during my visit to Johannesburg. Hopefully, we should be able to buy the house this time."

Coal India officers and employees are willing to sacrifice a day of pay in order to raise money for Gandhi memorabilia that they want to have displayed in the house if it is secured and converted into a memorial.

1/7/2011 9:50:13 AM