Lesedi Cultural Village

Lesedi is built as five homesteads - Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Basotho and Ndebele - on one property in the hills north-west of Johannesburg, each with its own architecture and staffed by people from that community who explain the household, dress and customs. The programme runs as a package: a film, a guided walk through the homesteads, a dance performance in a central arena where all five groups perform, and a meal of African dishes in the restaurant. Overnight stays in the homesteads are offered. The village was closed for two years during the pandemic and reopened in 2022. It is unambiguously a commercial cultural attraction built for visitors, mostly on tight schedules from Johannesburg, and the format compresses five cultures into three hours. Whether that is a useful introduction or a superficial one is a fair debate; the staff are from the communities and the money reaches them, which is the stronger argument in its favour.

What to look for

• The five homesteads - Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Basotho and Ndebele buildings on one site.
• The arena performance - dance from all five groups in a single show.
• The packaged format - film, walk, dance and meal on a fixed three-hour schedule.
• The community staffing - presenters from the cultures they are explaining.

When to go

All year. Half a day. Tours run at set times, usually late morning and afternoon.

Things to know

It is a built attraction, not a village anyone lives in. Three hours across five cultures is necessarily shallow. Prices are packaged and add up. Visitors uncomfortable with staged cultural performance should consider museums instead.

Nearby

The Cradle of Humankind and Maropeng are close; Lanseria airport is nearby.

Key facts