Credits

Digital curation prepared by Justine Wintjes and Gavin Whitelaw of the Department of Human Sciences of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum.

It has grown out of collaborative work with the Five Hundred Year Archive and their website EMANDULO, where they gather together materials that can shed light on the last five centuries of southern African history. It has also benefited from collaboration under the 'Reframing the African past' project supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number AH/Y00597X/1].

Pictured are Thokozani Mhlambi and John Wright at uMgungundlovu during a joint fieldtrip in 2019.

The materials in this curation are made available under a CC BY-NC-ND licence.

KZN MUSEUM COUNCIL 2024-27

 The KwaZulu-Natal Museum is a Schedule 3A Public Entity and an agency of the national Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) and is governed by a Council appointed by the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture. The Council is appointed for a three-year term by the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture. 

The duties of Council, as described in the Cultural Institutions Act, 1998 (Act No. 119 of 1998), are to:

Formulate policy

Hold, preserve and safeguard all movable and immovable property of whatever kind, placed in the care of, or loaned, or belonging to,  the declared institution concerned;

Receive, hold, preserve and safeguard all specimens, collections or other movable property placed under its care and management under Section 10(1) [of the Act];

Raise funds for the institution; manage and control the money received by the declared institution and to utilise those money for defraying expenses in connection with the performance of its functions

Keep a proper record of the property of the declared institution; submit to the Director-General any returns required by him or her in regard thereto, and cause proper books of account to be kept;

Determine, subject to this Act and with the approval of the Minister, the objects of the declared institution; and,

Generally, carry out the objects of the declared institution.

In addition, the Council appoints, in consultation with the Minister, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO); and, may determine the hours during which, and the conditions and restrictions subject to which, the public may visit the declared institution concerned or portion thereof, and the admission charges to be paid.

The members of the current KZN Museum Council are:
Chairperson: Mr Mthokozisi Radebe 
Deputy Chairperson: Ms Khwezi Kunene

Mr Vincent Blennies

Ms Charmaine Jugnarayan

Ms Khwezi Kunene

Mr Troy Meyers

Ms Mbali Myeni

Ms Zamangwane Ngcibi

Mr Chavaique Pienaar

Adv. Khayelihle Thango

Sub-committees of Council

The following Sub-committees of Council report to the Council:

Audit & Risk Committee

Finance & Procurement Committee

Human Resources & Remuneration Committee

Institutional Advancement & Ethics Committee

Infrastructure & Facilities Committee

Mandela Bears Witness

Mandela’s visit, on 2 and 3 April 1990, was to see the destruction and suffering, and to give people hope. It was his first journey back to the area since his capture, on 5 August 1962, near Howick. Mandela had only left prison, after 27 years, on 11 February 1990. He wanted to understand what was happening. He travelled through Ashdown and Imbali and he met the people sheltering in the Welcome Church, in Edendale and he inspected the damage at the Mphophomeni Catholic Church. He gave a press conference in town, and spoke at rallies at the Edendale Lay Centre, in Slangspruit, and at the Mphophomeni and Wadley Stadiums.

Struggle, Displacement & Death in the 1980s & early 1990s

Pietermaritzburg and the surrounding areas experienced a lot of violence and death in the struggle against apartheid. In the 1980s, UDF supporters and Inkatha supporters conflicted. Families and communities were torn apart because of the fighting and dying. On the 25 March 1990, the conflict known as The Seven Days War broke out.  Some UDF supporters stoned buses on the Edendale Road carrying Inkatha supporters home from a rally. For revenge, and with the help of the police, Inkatha attacked Ashdown, Caluza, Mpumuza, Gezubuso, KwaShange, KwaMnyandu and Mphophomeni. Over 100 people were killed and about 20 000 people fled their homes. Many houses were destroyed.