Durban - This week’s feature takes in the Kwa Muhle Museum at 130 Bram Fischer (formerly Ordinance) Road. It was the building that originally housed the despised Native Affairs department.
The old picture appeared in the Post newspaper on August 21, 1991, with the caption: “Durban’s former ‘bantu’ admin building”, and looks like it has been left to fall into rack and ruin. Today, as photographer Shelley Kjonstad’s picture shows, it’s one of the city’s premier museums and tourist attractions.
The double storey union style building was designed in 1927 by town architect William Murray-Jones and was built the following year. It has an arch-lined veranda with large copper-covered entrance doors.
Today the museum is dedicated to looking at the apartheid system with an open mind, honouring those that fought against it and exploring its effects on modern society in a positive and optimistic light.
Kwa Muhle in isiZulu means “the place of the good one” and was named in reference to its first manager, Mr Marwick. He helped no fewer than 7 000 Zulu people escape Gauteng (then the Transvaal) during the Anglo-Boer War.
The building was once one of the most despised structures in Durban because it was here the apartheid government enforced legislation which discriminated against non-white people and could often make life extremely difficult for them.
Today it is a place of hope and optimism, where diversity is celebrated and those who were once a part of the struggle against injustice are honoured. The exhibitions include photographs and videos, as well as remnants and objects from the South Africa of yesteryear. The Kwa Muhle Museum is enormously valuable to researchers, historians, students and social scientists keen to explore South Africa’s past and present.
Entrance to the museum is free, and visitors are advised to set aside a few hours to explore its many exhibits and treasures. It is open Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 4pm.
The Independent on Saturday