The Apartheid
Museum opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as
the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with
20th century South Africa, at the heart of which
is the apartheid story.
In 1995 the South African
government set up a process for the granting
of casino licenses, establishing an agency to
do this called the Gambling Board. The bid documents
stipulated that bidders should demonstrate how
they would attract tourism and thereby grow the
economy and stimulate job creation.
A consortium,
called Akani Egoli, put in a bid that included
the commitment to building a museum. Their bid
was successful, the Gold Reef City casino was
built and an adjacent piece of land given for
the construction of a museum.
The cost of the
construction of what became the Apartheid Museum
- approximately 80 million rand - was paid for
by Akani Egoli.
The museum is registered as a
Section 21 company (incorporated not for gain)
with an independent board of trustees, the chairman
of which is Dr John Kani. The company is separate
from Akani Egoli, who has leased the museum to
the Section 21 company for the duration of the
casino licence. The museum therefore relies on
donations, contributions and sponsorships to
sustain its growth.
The triumph of the human spirit
over adversity.
Beginning in 1948, the white elected
National Party government implemented the policy
of apartheid which turned 20 million people into
second class citizens, damning them to a life
of servitude, humiliation and abuse.
Their liberation
in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela,
the prisoner who became president, is a climax
in the saga of a nation's resistance, courage
and fortitude.
The Apartheid Museum, the first
of its kind, illustrates the rise and fall of
apartheid.
An architectural consortium, comprising
several leading architectural firms, conceptualised
the design of the building on a seven-hectare
stand. The museum is a superb example of design,
space and landscape offering the international
community a unique South African experience.
The
exhibits have been assembled and organised by
a multi-disciplinary team of curators, film-makers,
historians and designers.
They include provocative
film footage, photographs, text panels and artefacts
illustrating the events and human stories that
are part of the epic saga, known as apartheid.
A
series of 22 individual exhibition areas takes
the visitor through a dramatic emotional journey
that tells a story of a state-sanctioned system
based on racial discrimination and the struggle
of the majority to overthrow this tyranny.
For
anyone wanting to understand and experience what
apartheid South Africa was really like, a visit
to the Apartheid Museum is fundamental.
The museum
is a beacon of hope showing the world how South
Africa is coming to terms with its oppressive
past and working towards a future that all South
Africans can call their own.
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