Museum Africa

Museum Africa is located in Johannesburg's Newtown Cultural District of South Africa. The museum was previously housed in the Johannesburg Public Library. Its collection includes historic utensils and furniture used by the Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana and the Afrikaner. Other museums have also moved to the Museum Africa and these include Bamberg Museum of Fashion, with gowns and accoutrements, and the Bensusan Museum of Photography. The Geology Museum collection consists of over 17 000 rock and mineral samples from Southern Africa and samples from the Tsumeb area of Namibia, the Witwatersrand reefs and Okiep areas.

The museum’s permanent displays are themed to reflect the city's geological, social, political and economic history, documenting the social effects of the gold mines on life in South Africa.

One of the displays themed ‘Sounds of the City’, traces South African music from Marabi music and dance of the 1920s to the township jazz of Sophia Town. Another permanent display called ‘Tried for Treason’ focuses on the four year trial of 156 people opposed to apartheid including Nelson Mandela.

Attached to Museum Africa is also the Workers’ Museum, telling the story of migrant labour in southern Africa.

Some of its collections include Southern African exhibits from the Zambezi River, a highlight of an Iron-Age Tswana house and a furnace for working iron.
It is open to members of the public from Tuesday to Sunday at 09h00am until 17h00pm.