S Africa losing cultural landmarks like Apartheid Museum to Covid | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 11, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2025
S Africa losing cultural landmarks like Apartheid Museum to Covid

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
07 May, 2021, 05:45 pm
Last modified: 07 May, 2021, 05:48 pm

Related News

  • One dies from COVID-19 in 24 hrs
  • Covid-19: Two more deaths, 7 new cases reported in 24hrs
  • Covid-19: One more death, 10 new cases reported in 24hrs
  • Three die from Covid-19 in 24 hrs
  • Five Covid-19 deaths reported in 24 hours, 36 new cases detected

S Africa losing cultural landmarks like Apartheid Museum to Covid

Before the pandemic, the museum was recording up to 1,000 visitors a day, most of them foreign tourists

Reuters
07 May, 2021, 05:45 pm
Last modified: 07 May, 2021, 05:48 pm
Memorabilia with the face of former South African President Nelson Mandela, are displayed at the Apartheid Museum, one of dozens of heritage attractions and art galleries around the country forced to close their doors due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Johannesburg , South Africa, April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
Memorabilia with the face of former South African President Nelson Mandela, are displayed at the Apartheid Museum, one of dozens of heritage attractions and art galleries around the country forced to close their doors due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Johannesburg , South Africa, April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

A pair of boxing gloves worn by Nelson Mandela at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa lie under a thick layer of dust in a darkened room, the silence broken only by the thud of moths nose-diving onto the glass display case.

The gloves were once one of the most popular exhibits at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, one of dozens of heritage attractions and art galleries around the country forced to close their doors due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We had to let go of all of the staff. About 30 people. There's no one here to turn the lights on and off," said the museum's director, Christopher Till.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

He used his mobile phone as a torch to show some of the hundreds of artworks and artefacts illustrating the history of the long struggle against white minority rule.

"We can't afford to lose this place," he said.

Before the pandemic, the museum was recording up to 1,000 visitors a day, most of them foreign tourists. Like other cultural institutions, it had to shut down in March 2020 when South Africa imposed its first COVID-19 lockdown.

The museum reopened in January 2021, but having sold no tickets for 10 months and with visitor numbers very low due to the ongoing outbreak, it was too cash-strapped to operate and shut down again in March.

With tourists absent due to the virus and school visits, a major source of income, not happening because of restrictions, a number of other cultural institutions are suffering a similar fate. They include the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, the Johannesburg Art Gallery, and Mandela's house in the township of Soweto.

South Africa's 200 billion rand ($14 billion) loan-guarantee scheme, aimed to encourage banks to lend more and on favourable terms to businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis, has not helped as much as was hoped. Many distressed companies are reluctant to assume more liabilities.

In normal times, tourism accounts for more than 8% of gross domestic product (GDP) and for around 1.5 million jobs.

Soweto tour guide Bongani Ndlovu said his small business was suffering as a result of museum closures.

"Places like the Apartheid Museum, and a place like this," Ndlovu said, pointing at the Mandela house. "They're big attractions for international visitors. It's the first thing they ask to see when they get here.

"We wanted these places to be maintained."

World+Biz

S Africa / loosing / cultural landmark / COVID-19

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Bangladesh's delegation, led by Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, began high-level negotiations with USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer at 9pm Bangladesh time on Thursday (10 July). Photo: Collected from the Facebook handle of Golam Mortoza, Press Minister at the Bangladesh Embassy in the US
    No need to worry as US tariff talks ongoing: Fouzul tells biz leaders
  • Economist Abul Barkat; Photo: Courtesy
    Economist Abul Barkat arrested in graft case
  • Representational image. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS
    Explainer: Why SSC pass rate hit a 17-year low

MOST VIEWED

  • Graphics: TBS
    BB raises startup fund limit, drops upper age barrier
  • Workers pack undergarments at the packing section of a garment factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fatima Tuj Johora
    After US tariffs, jobs hang by a thread in Bangladesh's garments sector
  • Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    SSC, equivalent results: Pass rate drops to 68.45%, GPA-5 also declines
  • File photo of containers at Chattogram port/TBS
    US buyers push Bangladeshi exporters to share extra tariff costs
  • Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
    Govt vehicle purchase, foreign trip, new building construction banned: Finance ministry
  • Students sit for SSC exam at Motijheel Girls' High School on 10 April 2025. Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS
    SSC exam results out: Here's how you can check online and via SMS

Related News

  • One dies from COVID-19 in 24 hrs
  • Covid-19: Two more deaths, 7 new cases reported in 24hrs
  • Covid-19: One more death, 10 new cases reported in 24hrs
  • Three die from Covid-19 in 24 hrs
  • Five Covid-19 deaths reported in 24 hours, 36 new cases detected

Features

Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

6h | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

9h | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered — have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

9h | Panorama
Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS

11 July 2024: Riot vehicles, water cannons hit the streets as police crack down on protesters

2h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

'Hypocrisy' will not continue, Iran tells IAEA

5h | TBS World
OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

5h | TBS World
Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

6h | TBS Today
July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

5h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net