A French tourism company has bought a house in South Africa where Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi lived.

Voyageurs du Monde is believed to have paid $377,029 for the house, outbidding many others including Indian bidders.

The Johannesburg house was put up for sale after the owner said she failed to find an institution interested in preserving the building's legacy.

Gandhi lived there for three years from 1907 when he began to formulate his philosophy of non-violent resistance.