A philanthropist plans to buy the house in Johannesburg where Mahatma Gandhi had stayed for over three years and give it to the Government of India for preserving the same as a memorial.


City-based businessman Pradeep Bhavnani, in a letter to President Pratibha Patil, has requested her to give him permission through the official channel for transferring money to the owner of the house in order to finalise the deal.

Bhavnani said in the letter that he would donate the house to the government so that it could be preserved as a museum or a memorial as a tribute to the nation.

"The buyer has accepted my offer of Rs 2.5 crore for the house. I now look upon the government to grant me official permission so that I can dedicate this house to the nation", Bhavnani told agencies.

The owner of the house, Nancy Ball, who lived in this house for the last two decades, has decided to move out and put it up for sale.

Known as "The Kraal", the house is located on a quiet street in northern Johannesburg suburb of Orchids. Mahatma Gandhi had stayed there for three years since 1907.