Apartheid Museum

24/09/2026

Heritage Day is a celebration of the many cultures, traditions, and identities that make South Africa what it is. It is a day to celebrate our diversity and the shared sense of belonging that connects us, despite the divisions of our past.

One of the more unexpected ways this idea of togetherness took hold was through Braai Day. In 2007, Archbishop Desmond Tutu became patron of the campaign, recognising the braai as something that could bring South Africans together across cultural and social divides. As he put it, South Africa had many languages, but one word for a braai.

At its heart, that is what Heritage Day is about: finding the things that bring us together, while celebrating the cultures and traditions that make each of us who we are.

We invite you to join us at the Apartheid Museum today for our Heritage Day Market. Enjoy arts and crafts, cultural exhibitions, food stalls, live music from the Soweto Family Band and more.

24 September 2026 | 09:00 - 15:00
Free entry for all South Africans.

Celebrate our heritage. Embrace our diversity. 🇿🇦

19/09/2026

Join us this Heritage Day for “A Blend of Cultures” at the Apartheid Museum! 🇿🇦

Understand our past. Change our future.

Celebrate South Africa's rich cultural diversity with arts and crafts, cultural exhibitions, live music by the Soweto Family Band, and more.

24 September 2026
09:00 - 15:00
Apartheid Museum

FREE ENTRY FOR ALL SOUTH AFRICANS.
Celebrate our heritage. Embrace our diversity.

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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 aparth

18/09/2026

A journey through one of history's darkest chapters, emerging into light and into hope.

The Apartheid Museum holds the stories of struggle, resilience, and triumph that shaped modern South Africa, an experience that no visitor forgets.

Book tickets online: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/EventCategories.aspx?itemid=1517190624

15/09/2026

Apartheid Museum Art Collection: Biko Series, Paul Stopforth

Some truths find their way through art when every other door has been closed.

South African painter and graphic artist Paul Stopforth chose to make work that confronted apartheid directly.

In 1980, Stopforth was granted privileged access to autopsy photographs of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko's body by the Biko family's lawyer. Working from those images, he produced the Biko Series: four mixed media works on paper that expose the physical damage done to Biko in detention.

Forensic photography does not reach the public domain, but artwork does. The Biko Series became a permanent public record of what the state tried to suppress.

Visit the Apartheid Museum to explore the art collection and discover the perspectives it brings to South Africa’s history.

Plan your visit: www.apartheidmuseum.org

12/09/2026

On 12 September 1977, Bantu Stephen Biko died in detention. He was 30 years old.

Biko had been held and interrogated by the Port Elizabeth Security Police, sustaining severe injuries. On 11 September, he was transported naked in the back of a Land Rover, 1200 kilometres from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria. He died the following day. A 1977 inquest ruled there was "no one to blame."

Biko was the founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, a philosophy built on the conviction that black South Africans had to reclaim their identity, dignity, and self-worth before meaningful freedom could be achieved. That thinking shaped a generation, and its relevance has not faded.

In September 2025, 48 years after Biko’s death, the National Prosecuting Authority officially reopened the inquest into his killing. The inquest targets former apartheid Security Branch officers who were refused TRC amnesty after failing to make full disclosure. The pursuit of truth and accountability is not over.

Visit the Apartheid Museum to learn more about Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement.

Book tickets online: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/EventCategories.aspx?itemid=1517190624

09/09/2026

“Economic power or political representation as the key to women’s liberation in
South Africa?”

Join us at the Apartheid Museum as young debaters take on this important question,
challenge ideas and engage in a thought-provoking exchange.

SOUTH AFRICAN DEBATING TEAM vs SOWETO DEBATING ACADEMY

MODERATOR: Bongani Bingwa
LIVE MUSIC: National School of the Arts Youth Jazz Band

Saturday 19 September 2026
Apartheid Museum

Come listen, learn and be part of the conversation.

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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 aparth

06/09/2026

in 1966, Hendrik Verwoerd was stabbed in Parliament by a parliamentary messenger named Demetrio Tsafendas. As Minister of Native Affairs and later Prime Minister from 1958, Verwoerd had designed and entrenched the legal machinery of racial separation that defined South Africa for decades. History knows him as the architect of apartheid.

It was not the first attempt on his life. In 1960, he had survived being shot twice in the head, and publicly declared it a sign of divine approval of his work.

What followed Tsafendas's arrest is a story in itself. He was declared mentally unfit to stand trial and spent 33 years confined, first in Pretoria Central Prison, then in a psychiatric facility, dying in 1999 largely unknown. Whether the finding was medically accurate or politically convenient has been debated by historians ever since. By declaring him unfit to stand trial, the state ensured his motives were never heard in open court, and the question of why he did it was never put on the public record.

Apartheid controlled not just the lives of its opponents, but the record itself.

Explore the history of apartheid and its lasting impact. Plan your visit: www.apartheidmuseum.org

03/09/2026

Six decades. One extraordinary legacy.

Last weekend we opened John Kani: A Living Legend, honouring the actor, playwright, director, and mentor who, as Chair of the Board, has helped guide this museum for more than 25 years.

Across protest theatre, the world's great stages, and the screen, Kani has used his craft to ask difficult questions about South Africa and about who gets to tell its stories.

A gallery in our museum has also been named the John Kani Gallery.

Now open to the public until 30 November 2026. Come and experience it.

Plan your visit: www.apartheidmuseum.org

01/09/2026

A night for a living legend.

On Saturday evening, we opened John Kani: A Living Legend, an exhibition celebrating six decades of Dr John Kani's work in performance, playwriting, and social justice. The evening brought tributes from friends and colleagues who have worked alongside him.

The launch fell on the eve of his birthday, with the exhibition opening to the public the following morning. A fitting way to mark a career that has shaped South African theatre and carried our stories to the world.

Thank you to everyone who joined us.

On display until 30 November 2026.

www.apartheidmuseum.org