All government-owned museums in the Western Cape, including three museums in Stellenbosch, will provide free access to those members of the public who present vaccination cards – whether fully or partially vaccinated – during September.
This was according to Lorenzo Hendricks, supervisor of the Village Museum in Stellenbosch. The initiative, which is intended as a celebration of Heritage Month, was announced by Anroux Marais, the Western Cape minister of cultural affairs and sport, in a press release on 31 August.
The Toy and Miniature Museum in Stellenbosch houses a “miniature of South Africa’s famous Blue train – the only one of its kind in Africa”, according to the Stellenbosch Museum website. The train travels from a miniature Stellenbosch, through the Cape Winelands and the mountains to the Karoo, where it passes Matjiesfontein before it returns back to Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
“All you need to do is bring your ID card and your vaccination card and you will get free entry to all the museums,” said Hendricks.
The free entry to museums in September is “a bid to increase vaccination numbers while promoting our affiliated museums”, said Marais in the press release.
“The Stellenbosch museum has three museums under its wing. It’s the Village Museum, the Toy [and Miniature] Museum and the VOC Arsenal [Kruithuis] Museum,” said Hendricks.
The Toy and Miniature Museum has received a steady influx of visitors since the start of Heritage Month, according to Muchelaine Christians, the managing supervisor of the Toy and Miniature Museum.
“There are so many different things to see at the museums,” said Muchelaine Christians, the managing supervisor of the Toy and Miniature Museum in Stellenbosch. The Toy and Miniature Museum is one of the local museums that will provide free access to vaccinated residents for Heritage Month. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
“The Toy [and Miniature] Museum is quite popular with kids and parents. People are happy to find out there is no charge [this month],” said Christians.
Impact of Covid-19
Normally, each museum would do something unique for Heritage Month. However, this year, the department of cultural affairs and sport implemented the current provincial initiative as a result of the ongoing pandemic, according to Hendricks.
A mural is in the process of being painted on the outside wall of the Village Museum in Stellenbosch, in an effort to attract more visitors, according to Lorenzo Hendricks, supervisor of the Village Museum in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
“Most of the visitors at the Village Museum are international tourists, and we used to get roughly 80 visitors per day,” said Hendricks. However, due to the country’s current travel restrictions, the Village Museum receives “roughly three visitors per day”, according to Hendricks.
Hendricks told MatieMedia that he hopes the free entry during Heritage Month will bring in more visitors.
The VOC Kruithuis Museum is currently closed for 14 days due to a Covid-19 outbreak, but is expected to re-open on 20 September, according to Lamees Petersen, education officer for the Stellenbosch museums.
Heritage on a bus
Stellenbosch museums will host a bus tour in an effort to educate more people about the culture in and around Stellenbosch. The bus tour is an annual Heritage Month event, according to Petersen.
“We are having a heritage tour on 18 September,” said Petersen
The Stellenbosch Museum Information Office, situated on 116 Dorp Street, Stellenbosch, offers information about all the museums in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Keanan Hemmonsbey
The tour is R100 per person but it is limited to 30 people, due to Covid-19 restrictions, according to Petersen.
“The starting point is at the Village Museum, so we will go to the dorpies outside of Stellenbosch…visiting Pniel, Ida’s Valley, drive through Cloetesville and Kayamandi,” said Petersen.