In addition to visiting the Museum Africa and seeing a very visual display on the Treason Trials of the 1950s and 1960s when over 100 anti-Apartheid individuals, including Mandela, were tried on anti-loyalty charges, I had the opportunity of walking over to the now closed Workers Museum. While in operation a few years ago, Khanya College's Education for Liberation Project shut the museum down for upgrades and much needed funding. Originally the Johannesburg city power station and operating through the 1980s, the barracks for colored male workers were unfortunately modeled after conditions set for workers at the diamond mines. Workers slept on concrete bunks, had primitive sanitary conditions, and were often detained for brutal interrogation on charges of theft. University tours are sometimes given but repairs will be necessary to the facility before exhibits can be placed in the museum once again.
2 comments:
WAs that the same place Nelson Mandela stayed or worked or places like that
Nelson, as far as I know (I could be wrong), did not work in a mine. However, given South Africa's rich diamond/gold reserves, many disadvantaged people of color did work in mines as it was dangerous and others did not always want to do it. During Apartheid, working conditions for miners were poor. Since, working conditions have greatly improved. The Workers Museum shows what living conditions were like for miners during Apartheid.
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