South African National Museum of Military History (22 Erlswold Way, Randburg) – located in the northern part of Johannesburg, this museum, which initially highlighted South Africa’s involvement in World War II, was expanded to cover subsequent conflicts that involved the country’s armed forces (known as the SADF – South African Defence Forces). Such conflicts include […]
Robben Island (Cape Town) – located off the coast of Cape Town, this was the once-notorious prison where anti-Apartheid activities (including Nelson Mandela) were kept, until 1990, when Mandela and other ANC activists were freed (which led to the country’s transition to democracy). This site has been declared a South African National Monument in 1996 […]
National Gallery (Government Avenue, Cape Town) — South Africa’s premier art museum houses outstanding collections of South African, African, British, French, Dutch and Flemish art. Selections from the Permanent Collection change regularly to enable the museum to have a full programme of temporary exhibitions of paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, beadwork, textiles and architecture. […]
Mandela Family Museum (8115 Orlando West, Soweto, Johannesburg) — this museum strives to be a world-class visitor attraction, and a leading centre for the preservation, presentation, and research of the history, heritage and legacy of the Mandela Family. The mission of Mandela House is to provide an effective, efficient and meaningful experience to all visitors, […]
Langa Memorial (Maduna Road, Uitenhage) — Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape (a 7-hour drive from Cape Town, via N2 highway), holds a special place in the history of resistance to apartheid, as it was here that 20 people were shot dead by police on 21 March 1985, the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre of […]
Iziko South African Museum (25 Queen Victoria Street, Cape Town) – founded in 1825 (and moved to its current location in 1897), this museum houses over 1.5 million specimens of scientific importance. The collections now range from fossils almost 700 million years old to recently-caught insects and fish. There are also stone tools made by […]
Iziko Slave Lodge (49 Adderly Street, corner of Wale Street, Cape Town) — this Cape Town museum was originally built in 1679 as the slave lodge of the Dutch East India Company. Today, has become a permanent museum of slavery. The Iziko Slave Lodge documents the Cape’s role in the Indian Ocean slave trade route, […]
House of Parliament (Parliament Street, Cape Town) – when the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, a compromise was reached, where the country’s legislative capital would be at Cape Town, while Bloemfontein would be its judicial capital, and Pretoria would be its administrative capital. Even after the country’s transition to democracy, the country’s […]
Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (432 Paul Kruger Street Pretoria) – formerly know as the Transvaal Museum, this building contains large collections of Plio-Pleistocene fossils, (including hominids from Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai in the Cradle of Humankind), as well as late Permian therapsids (mammal-like reptiles from the Karoo). In addition the museum holds very […]
District Six Museum (25A Buitenkant Street, Cape Town) – this museum pays homage to the former residents of the 6th municipal district (a.k.a. “District 6”) who went through an extreme form of gentrification during the height of the Apartheid era. In February 1966, it was declared a “white area” under the country’s Group Areas Act, […]