JOHANNESBURG – In a year that requires South Africa to pause and reflect on an extraordinary milestone, two of the country’s most historic destinations will come together around the same table.
Sanctuary Mandela, Nelson Mandela's former Houghton home in Johannesburg, and Kruger Sharati: The Train on the Bridge, spanning the Sabie River on Kruger National Park's historic Selati Bridge, have announced a ground-breaking culinary collaboration, From Kruger's Kitchen to Madiba's Table: An Iconic Food Journey.
This collaboration brings together three creative voices: Sanctuary Mandela, Kruger Sharati, and Chef Wandile Mabaso, one of South Africa's most respected chefs in contemporary African cuisine.
Together they let guests experience a six-course dinner that travels between Johannesburg and Kruger, between memory and landscape, between a man's life and the wilds of the continent.
“He understood that the country's natural features are more than just landscapes; they form part of the nation's shared heritage.”
opportunity
Nelson Mandela would have turned 108 this year.
This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Kruger National Park. This is also the 100th anniversary of 100 years of conservation stewardship, ecological care, and the quiet insistence that we must protect wild spaces for those who come after us.
These two milestones have one thing in common: legacy. Not as a monument or nostalgia, but as a living responsibility.
Madiba frequently spoke of the importance of protecting Africa's natural heritage.
He understood that the country's wild places, rivers, hot trees, and open plains, were more than just a historical backdrop.
They were part of the heritage that every generation is expected to pass on.
From Kruger's Kitchen to Madiba's Table: An Iconic Food Journey explores that heritage, expressed through that most human of rituals: gathering around a table and sharing a meal.
This is also the first in the Motsamai Chef Collaboration Series, a platform that brings together the Group’s assets and South Africa’s best culinary talent to create something more lasting beyond hospitality.
experience
Enjoy a unique dining experience in Johannesburg this July.
On July 17 and 18, which would have been Madiba's 108th birthday, guests will be invited inside the house he called home.
Each evening begins with a welcome drink, canapés, and a guided heritage tour of the grounds before moving to a table to enjoy six courses and wine pairings.
Guests sit at communal tables. This is how meals were always eaten in this house.
Menu – A gastronomic journey of 6 courses
6 courses. Each piece is inspired by one of the voices of three collaborators: Sanctuary Mandela, Kruger Sharati and Chef Wandile Mabaso.
Each one is rooted in a story worth sitting through.
The menu moves between the forest and the city, between the wild and the cultivated, between the cuisines that Madiba cherishes and the landscapes that have shaped South Africa.
Harnessing indigenous ingredients, the memories of Houghton's kitchen, the wide open skies of Lowveld, and the creative language of modern African cuisine.
Wine pairings selected in partnership with Boschendal are included throughout.
The best way to find out more about each course is at the table.
chefs
Chef Wandile Mabaso joins forces with two colleagues who continue this spirit of collaboration in the kitchen: Chef Mordecai Browns, Head Chef of Sanctuary Mandela's in-house restaurant Insights, and Chef Vusi Mbasa, Executive Chef of Kruger Sharati.
The two properties are part of the same family, both belonging to the Motsamai Tourism Group, giving this collaboration an unforced sense of common purpose.
At Insights, rated Gauteng's highest restaurant by DinePlan with a 4.8 rating and known for its 'Dine Like Madiba' experience, Chef Mordecai builds on the traditions established in this very kitchen, creating menus based on the specific tastes and preferences that Madiba was known to appreciate.
He has been joining Sanctuary Mandela's kitchen since 2021, first as sous chef and now as head chef. This continuity gives his cooking an intimacy with this home that cannot be manufactured.
At Kruger Sharati, Chef Vusi has been bringing innovative culinary leadership to a kitchen rooted in the landscape itself for more than a decade. His Kruger to Fork philosophy sources almost everything within 30 kilometers of the lodge and builds the menu around Lowveld's indigenous produce and seasonal rhythms.
There are 3 chefs. Two iconic South African destinations. One table.
Tickets and reservations
Tickets cost R2 500 per person and include a six-course menu, wine pairing, welcome drink and a guided heritage tour of the Mandela Reserve. Seating is limited each night.
Reservations are accepted through DinePlan or directly through Sanctuary Mandera.
There are three partners at this level. Two nights. A milestone year.
Book via DinePlan or contact Sanctuary Mandela directly: info@sanctuarymandela.com | +27 10 035 0368 | +27 78 641 6061 | WhatsApp sanctuarymandela.com
skill development
Beyond the dining experience, From Kruger's Kitchen to Madiba's Table permeates one of Mandela's most enduring beliefs: that education is the most powerful tool for creating change.
A dedicated skills development program provides mentorship, training and hands-on learning opportunities for aspiring chefs and hospitality professionals, creating a platform where up-and-coming talent can learn from industry leaders and gain exposure to world-class culinary and hospitality practices.
This dinner is more filling than it looks. As part of the Motsamai Chef Collaboration Series, Kruger Sharati and Chef Wandil Mabaso are aiming for more. And this dinner guest will be the first to hear what happens next.
About Sanctuary Mandera
Sanctuary Mandela is Nelson Mandela's former Houghton residence at 4 13th Street, Johannesburg.
A nine-room boutique hotel and living monument, it has been managed with the precision and care befitting the house and the men who lived there, making it a space of reflection, heritage and thoughtful hospitality.
The in-house restaurant “Insights” is open to both hotel guests and the general public. Sanctuary Mandera is part of the Motsamai Tourism Group. sanctuarymandela.com
About Kruger Sharati
Kruger Sharati: Train on the Bridge is unlike any other lodge on the continent. Permanently installed on the historic Selati Bridge over the Sabie River in the Kruger National Park, it is a gathering place of heritage, landscape and relationships, and the team who bring it to life are as much a part of the experience as the view from the train window. Awarded two Michelin Keys and voted South Africa's leading safari lodge at the 2025 World Travel Awards, Kruger Sharati continues to redefine what it means to encounter Africa. Kruger Sharati is part of the Motsamai Tourism Group. krugershalati.com
About Chef Wandile Mabaso
Born and raised in Soweto, Chef Wandile Mabaso is one of South Africa's most fascinating culinary figures, and a chef whose story is as extraordinary as the food he creates.
He has been cooking since the age of 10, starting his career at a hotel school, traveling throughout Europe as part of a catering crew on a ship docked in Venice, spending nine months with an Italian chef, and sailing through the Mediterranean, Western Europe and the Baltic Sea.
He then moved to New York, arriving without knowing anyone, and entered the kitchen of a restaurant in Gascogne, where he first met his mentor, the legendary Alain Ducasse.
Ducasse invited him to Paris, where he trained at Le Meurice, a two-star Michelin restaurant, and was subsequently appointed by Ducasse as South Africa's ambassador of French cuisine.
He returned in 2018 and opened Les Créatifs in Bryanston, Johannesburg, combining exacting French techniques with indigenous South African ingredients.
Named Chef of the Year at the Luxe Restaurant Awards, he has cooked for world leaders and BRICS summits, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The essence of his cuisine is South African cuisine, rooted in his origins and expressed through the places the world has taken him.
About Chef Mordecai Browns
Chef Mordecai Browns is the head chef of Insights restaurant at Sanctuary Mandela. The restaurant received a guest rating of 4.8 on DinePlan, making it one of the highest scoring restaurants in Gauteng and ranked in the top 25 restaurants in South Africa in 2024.
He has been in Sanctuary Mandela's kitchen since December 2021, first as sous chef and was promoted to head chef in May 2024, but he is more deeply familiar with the house, its history and the particular flavors it honors than almost anyone currently in the kitchen.
With a Diploma in Patisserie from the JHB School of Culinary Arts and Pastry and a professional career in fine dining restaurants such as Miarestate Hotel & Spa in the Eastern Cape and La Cucina di Ciro in Johannesburg, Chef Mordecai brings both technical range and real organizational knowledge to this collaboration.
Dine Like Madiba's menu is built on the belief that food can preserve stories, bring people together and create moments that linger long after the last bite, and a deep respect for the authenticity of what is eaten and valued at this table.
About Chef Vusi Mbata
Chef Vusi Blessing Mbatha is the Executive Chef of the Kruger Station and Kruger Sharati districts, providing executive culinary leadership across multiple venues within one of South Africa's most prestigious safari hospitality environments.
He graduated from the International Hotel School, gained a qualification in Professional Cooking and Culinary Arts from the City & Guilds of London, and completed a Management Development Program at Stellenbosch University Business School in 2024.
For more than a decade as a progressive leader in luxury hotels, boutique properties and destination dining, Chef Vushi has developed a culinary identity entirely his own. Kruger to Fork's philosophy is to source almost everything within a 30km radius of the property, work with on-site gardens and local farmers, and incorporate indigenous ingredients such as morogo, imifino, amasi and mongongo nuts into the menu, making it authentically South African cuisine, refined for the global stage.
His beliefs are simple. As with game drives, food should involve the same sense of discovery, and in Lowveld, taste, landscape and community are inseparable.
