The uMsunduzi Museum (formerly known as Voortrekker Museum) is situated in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, 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 which is situated in Msunduzi Local Municipality in the uMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal was founded in 1912 as a tribute to the Voortrekkers after Impi yaseNcome or Battle of Blood River (Voortrekker-Zulu War) of 16 December 1838 between the amaZulu (Zulu people) and Voortrekkers 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 the Impi yaseNcome or Battle of Blood River (Voortrekker-Zulu War).
At the dawn of South Africa’s 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 the Battle of Blood River (Voortrekker-Zulu War) 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
To be committed to high levels of creativity and innovation in research, collection, exhibition and education for a socio-economically empowered and cohesive nation
Values
The values of the uMsunduzi Museum are associated with the institution’s commitment to service excellence by putting people first and by ascribing to the Batho Pele principles and the philosophy of uBuntu.
Below are the museum’s values:
- Integrity
- Accountabity
- Excellence
- Socially Responsive
- Creativity
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.
Overseeing Department/Entity
Office Bearers/Management
Director
- Dr Mlungisi Ngubane
Deputy Director
- Mr B Mchunu
- Ms P Ngubane
Communications Officers
- Mrs Lestell Sewell (PA: Director)
Contact Details
The contact details of the uMsunduzi Museum are listed in the table below.
| Physical Address: | 351 Langalibalele Street, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, 3201 |
| Postal Address: | P.O. Box 998, Pietermaritzburg, 3200 |
| Telephone: | 033 394 6834 / 5 / 6 |
| Email: | lbarnwell@msunduzimuseum.org.za |
| Website: | www.umsunduzimuseum.com |
READ MORE:
➜ List of Galleries, Museums, and Theatres in South Africa
➜ National Government of South Africa
| Galleries, Museums & Theatres under South Africa’s National Government |
|---|
| Amazwi South African Museum of Literature . Artscape Theatre Centre . Die Afrikaanse Taalmuseum en -monument . Ditsong: Museums of South Africa . Freedom Park . Iziko Museums of South Africa . KwaZulu-Natal Museum . Luthuli Museum . Mandela Bay Theatre Complex . Market Theatre Foundation . National Museum in Bloemfontein . Nelson Mandela Museum . Robben Island Museum . South African State Theatre . The Playhouse Company . uMsunduzi Museum . War Museum of the Boer Republics . William Humphreys Art Gallery |
