Translate

Best Museums in Durban


KwaMuhle Museum
The KwaMuhle Museum is housed in the former premises of Durban’s Native Affairs Department which was charged with, among other functions, the control of the influx of Black migrants into the city. Migrants arriving in Durban had to report to the building where they waited in queues to see if they would be issued with passes to allow them to remain in town. The unsuccessful applicants would be forced to return to homes in the country or else risk staying in town illegally and living with the constant threat of arrest during a police raid.
The Durban System, as it was known, became the blueprint for apartheid in later years. The KwaMuhle Museum has many displays documenting the Durban System including a very illuminating one on just how the municipality managed to get the system to pay for itself through a municipal monopoly of brewing and selling sorghum beer. Another display concerns the Cato Manor riots which were largely the result of that monopoly.

Address: 130 Bram Fischer Rd, Durban Central, Durban, 4001
Hours: Open Monday to Fruday: 8:30AM–4PM. Sundays: Close
Saturday 8:30AM–12:30PM
Sunday Closed
Phone: 031 311 2237

Port Natal Maritime Museum
Portside museum housing exhibits of local maritime significance as well as early exploration. The Port Natal Maritime Museum deals exclusively with the city's seafaring tradition. It serves as a reminder that Durban was, and still is, the busiest port in Africa. The museum, off Durban's Esplanade, is a true voyage of discovery, The Port Natal Maritime Museum offers a panoramic view of Durban Harbor, and gives a great insight into the influence of maritime culture on local life whilst also reflecting on the rigors and romance.
Durban is the maritime trade centre for Africa and the city's economical epicentre so it is fitting that this is where the Port Natal Maritime Museum dropped anchor. This tribute to local seafaring traditions is set on Durban's harbour coast backed by the wide angle view of the bay.

Address: Samora Machel St, Durban Central, Durban, 4000
Phone: 031 322 9598
Website: durbanhistorymuseums.org.za


Durban Natural Science Museum
The Durban Natural Science Museum has dynamic and innovative research and education programmes with a particular emphasis on Biodiversity Conservation, and Ecology.

The mission of the Durban Natural Science Museum is to acquire and disseminate knowledge about the Earth, its history, and life on Earth, both past and present.

One of South Africa’s smallest but busiest natural science museums, it is renowned for its realistic dioramas (habitat groups), life size T. rex model, near-complete Dodo skeleton and Egyptian mummy, Peten Amen. We are open to the public 363 days a year and admission is free!
Founded on July 23rd 1887, the Museum celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2007/08 and these celebrations culminated in the sealing of two time capsules on the 23 September 2008 in celebration of its contributions to the conservation of natural heritage. The first time capsule will be opened in 2057 (49 years time) and the second will be opened in 2087 on the occasion of the Museums bicentennial celebrations.


Address: City Hall, 234 Anton Lembede St, Durban Central, Durban, 4000
Phone: 031 311 2256
Website: durban.gov.za

Local History Museum 
The Local History Museum, or Old Courthouse Museum, was built in 1866 in Aliwal Street as a court house and was fortified at the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879. The building is reputed to have had the first elevator in Durban, to allow the judges to move easily between their chambers and the court room.


It houses a collection of period costumes, dating back to the 1920s, maps, documentation and photographs. There is a display of movers and shakers in Durban's history and a number of dioramas including a wood and iron Victorian cottage, an Edwardian pharmacy, early European settler Henry Francis Fynn's wattle and daub hut, and the Clairmont sugar mill at the turn of the century.

Address: 77 Samora Machel St, Durban Central, Durban, 4001
Websites:durbanhistorymuseums.org.za


Cato Manor Heritage Centre
Cato Manor is named after Durban’s first Mayor, George Christopher Cato.  The area was granted to George Cato in the 19th century. In the early 1900s land was leased to Indian market gardeners and shacks occupied by black Africans began to appear.
During the 20th century Cato Manor was a place in turmoil and after the 1949 riots most Indian residents left the area.  In 1960, resistance to the Group Areas Act caused the deaths of nine policemen in Cato Manor. The area was cleared and remained largely vacant for some time. Cato Manor is ideally located, it is near the central business district of Durban and close to major roads.
Over time it was re-occupied and the Cato Manor Development Association (CMDA) played a vital role in redeveloping the area.  Today the Cato Manor Area Based Management (ABM) programme of the eThekwini Municipality plays an integral part in the development of Cato Manor.  It focuses on social & economic upliftment, reduction of dependency and community cohesion.  The area is home to about 93,000 residents.


Address: 750 Francois Rd, Westridge, Durban, 4091
Phone: 031 261 3216
Websites: durbanhistorymuseums.org.za/cato-manor

Phansi Museum
The Phansi Museum houses one of the world's largest publicly accessible collections of Southern African artifacts. The collection includes: Zulu, Xhosa, Shangaan and Ndebele beadwork, telephone-wire baskets, carved wooden meat platters and milk pails, ceramic beer pots, snuff spoons, containers and pipes, walking sticks, wood, vinyl and Perspex earplugs.

The collection is housed in Roberts House, a fully restored Victorian National Monument in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. All three floors of the building house innovative contemporary displays. A large space on the top storey has 30 life-size marionettes on display. These are dressed and adorned with beadwork, garments, jewellery and ceremonial objects, from the various 'tribal' regions of Southern Africa. They illustrate the complex visual language which communicates regional identity and social structures through the use of color, material and design.


Address: 500 Esther Roberts Rd, Glenwood, Berea, 4001
Phone: 031 206 2889
Website: phansi.com