MPUMALANGA HERITAGE MUSEUM
About Mpumalanga Heritage Museum
Situated in the Mpumalanga Township in Hammarsdale, roughly 50km west of Durban's city centre, the Mpumalanga Heritage Centre serves as a site of memory for the surrounding community. It functions both as an educational resource and as a visitor orientation centre, and complements the seven other sites that make up the Durban Local History Museums network.
Completed in July 2014 following extensive community consultation on which aspects of the area's history should be given focus, the centre was designed to reflect two closely linked historical narratives: the political violence that engulfed Mpumalanga from 1983 to 1992, and the decades of peace and democratic government that have followed since the end of that conflict.
Exhibitions:
Between 1985 and 1991, Mpumalanga township was engulfed by fierce political conflict between Inkatha-aligned groups and UDF/ANC-aligned factions – violence that left many residents dead or displaced, and divided the community into opposing pockets of political loyalty.
Rather than shy away from this painful history, the centre uses filmed oral testimony from survivors and participants as one of its primary educational tools, allowing visitors to hear the community's story directly from those who lived through it. These first-hand accounts are complemented by textual and graphic displays summarising key events and statistics, as well as the peace process – running from 1991 to 1993, and culminating in the 1993 Africa Peace Award – that eventually helped bring the violence to an end.
The centre promotes social cohesion within the community that suffered during this conflict, and today serves academics, pupils, researchers, institutions and visitors seeking a deeper understanding of this pivotal chapter in Durban's history.