Showing 1-9 of 9 results
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Apartheid Museum
The Apartheid Museum details South Africa's era of segregation with chilling accuracy. With plenty of attention to detail and an unsparing emphasis on the inhuman philosophy of apartheid - visitors are handed a card stating their race when they arrive and are required to enter the exhibit through their allotted gate - this remains one of South Africa's most evocative museums.
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Constitution Hill
Inspiring, impressive Constitution Hill is slowly becoming one of the city's - if not the country's - chief tourist attractions. Built within the ramparts of the Old Fort, which dates from 1892 and was once a notorious prison, the development focuses on South Africa's new Constitutional Court. Ruling on constitutional and human-rights matters, the court itself is a very real symbol of the changing South Africa.
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Hector Pieterson Memorial
North of Vilakazi St is Soweto's showcase, Hector Pieterson Sq. Named after the 13-year-old who was shot dead in the run-up to the Soweto uprising , the square now features the poignant Hector Pieterson Memorial and the excellent Hector Pieterson Museum, which offers an insight into Sowetan life and the history of the independence struggle. From the square, a line of shrubs leads up Moema St to the site where he was shot outside the school.
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Johannesburg Art Gallery
On the Noord St side of Joubert Park (itself a no-go area) is the Johannesburg Art Gallery. This place has a reputable collection of European and South African landscape and figurative paintings, and several exhibitions featuring more-adventurous contemporary work and long-overdue retrospectives of black artists.
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Mandela Museum
The first stop on most tours is the Mandela Museum, just off Vilakazi St. Nelson Mandela shared this tiny home with his first wife, Evelyn, and it is filled with fascinating photographs and clutter. Among the exhibits is a letter from the State of Michigan asking George Bush Senior to apologise for the role the CIA played in Mandela's 1962 arrest. Needless to say, it never did.
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Museum Africa
At the heart of the cultural precinct, Museum Africa is housed in the impressive old Bree St fruit market, next to the Market Theatre complex. The superb exhibition on the Treason Trials (1956-61), which featured most of the important figures in the 'new' South Africa, is a must-see for anyone looking for a better understanding of the country's more recent history.
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Sci-Bono Discovery Centre
In the Electric Workshop building, you'll find the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre. The space includes a science museum and an interactive learning experience, and is an excellent way to keep the kids occupied for a couple of hours.
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South African National Museum of Military History
Perhaps it's South Africa's fascination with guns, or maybe it's the country's bloody history, but every year the South African National Museum of Military History is one of Jo'burg's most popular museums. If warfare is your thing you'll find this museum fascinating. You can see artefacts and implements of destruction from the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer War through to WWII.
Read more about South African National Museum of Military History
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University of Witwatersrand
The suburb of Braamfontein's focus is the University of Witwatersrand, more commonly known as Wits (pronounced vits) University, and there are plans to transform this currently quiet area into a lively student ghetto. Wits University is the largest English-language university in the country, with more than 20,000 students. It's an attractive campus.
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Showing 1-9 of 9 results
