About the Museums – uMsunduzi Museum

uMsunduzi Museum

UMsunduzi Museum (formerly known as Voortrekker Museum) is situated in the Province of KwaZulu Natal, in the heart of Pietermaritzburg, a city which boasts a number of tourist attractions as well as nationally significant cultural and sporting events. The Museum was founded in 1912 as a tribute to the Voortrekkers after Impi yase Ncome/Battle of Blood River of 16 December 1838 between the Voortrekkers and amaZulu and it is for this reason that the Museum also has under its auspices the Ncome Museum, a legacy project of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The Ncome Museum was officially opened in 1999 and it is built on the site of Impi yaseNcome/Battle of Blood River.

At the dawn of democracy in 1994, and in line with the transformation agenda of the new political dispensation, the Museum changed its name to uMsunduzi Museum and adopted a more culturally and historically inclusive and representative outlook. This resulted in a shift towards a more balanced focus in terms of programmes from research, collections and exhibitions to education and outreach that reflect as well as acknowledge the histories and cultures of various South African population groups.

In line with this balanced and inclusive outlook, the Ncome Museum site also strives not only to be a memorial of Impi yaseNcome/Battle of Blood River and a repository of this narrative but to also be representative of the histories, narratives and heritage treasures of various groups that constitute its physical and cultural environs– mainly AmaZulu, BaSotho and the Afrikaners.

Vision

Excellence in research, collection, exhibition and education for a socio-economically empowered and cohesive nation.

Mission Statement

To be committed to high levels of creativity and innovation in research, collection, exhibition and education for a socio-economically empowered and cohesive nation

Our Values

Integrity

Accountabity

We can be relied on to consistently undertake our duties honestly and ethically.

We will be accountable for all our undertakings and for the use and safe guarding of the assets in our care.

Excellence

Socially Responsive

We are committed to achieving our performance goals and for delivering work and services of high quality.

We will offer a museum service which is responsive to our stakeholders and communities.

Creativity

We will strive for creativity in the manner in which we conceptualize, plan and deliver our programmes

Significance

The uMsunduzi Museum is the site of the 1840 Church of the Vow, which still stands in its original form. The church was built to honour the promise made to God by the Voortrekkers that should they win the battle they will build a church in His honour. The Ncome Museum site owes its uniqueness because it was on this site that the first major confrontation between Africans and European immigrants, represented respectively by AmaZulu and the Voortrekkers, took place. The battle marked a significant turning point in terms of land occupation in the interior of today’s South Africa and the overall shaping of present day South African social, political and economic landscape. It set in motion a chain of events and confrontations among various cultural groups which endured to the early twentieth century. The commemoration of the day of the battle, 16 December, and the significance attached thereto, have changed overtime, beginning as Dingane’s Day, renamed the Day of the Vow in 1982 (Geloftedag) and ultimately the Day of Reconciliation in 1996. The Reconciliation Bridge constructed at the Ncome Museum site is one of many symbols of reconciliation that the democratic government has been introducing across the nation since its inauguration in 1994. The bridge connects two memorial sites, the Blood River Heritage site, west of the Ncome River and the Ncome Museum site, east of the Ncome River, which respectively represent the Afrikaner and Zulu perspectives of the battle.

Council

Management

Staff