KwaMuhle Museum
130 Bram Fischer Road, Durban Central, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, 4001
Set in a colonnaded 1927 building that once housed the Department of Native Affairs (a key element in the machinery of apartheid), the KwaMuhle Museum explores how the racist system developed in colonial Durban. Displays show how the Durban Corporation used beer proceeds to break apart families and divide communities, and showcase the impact of apartheid on society.
The basics
The KwaMuhle Museum is free to enter and pre-booking is not required. Besides the apartheid sections, the museum hosts exhibits on HIV, which continues to blight South Africa and tells the story of a teenage ANC member who became a terrorist in search of liberation. Many travelers visit independently, but a handful of tours stop by; discovering the museum with a guide can help put the role of Durban in South African history into context and learn how apartheid’s legacy still shapes the nation today.
Things to know before you go
The KwaMuhle Museum is a good choice for history buffs, politically conscious folk, and anyone with an interest in South African people’s lives.
This is a small museum. Allow 30 minutesto to 1 hour to explore it.
There is wheelchair access to the museum.
How to get there
The KwaMuhle Museum sits in central Durban, about a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometer) drive south of Durban Station. The Circle Line of the People Mover bus stops a 5-minute walk from the museum on K E Masinga Road.
When to get there
The museum is open morning until late afternoon from Monday through Saturday, but closes on Sundays and public holidays. It’s rarely busy so visit when the mood strikes—you're unlikely to encounter any crowds.
On the racial justice trail in Durban
Travelers with an interest in South Africa’s past will find more than just the KwaMuhle Museum to move and inform them. The 1860 Heritage Museum tells the story of how indentured Indian laborers struggled to build lives and communities in Durban; the Durban Holocaust & Genocide Centre casts a radical lens on prejudice as it explores the history of the Holocaust and the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
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