KING Goodwill Zwelithini, together with premier Willies Mchunu and eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede will official open the Cato Manor Museum on Sunday, 28 May. The museum has been built around the tomb of Queen Thomozile kaNdwandwe Zulu, King Goodwill Zwelithini’s mother.
Deputy City Manager for Community and Emergency Services, Dr Musa Gumede told the Exececutive Committee this week that the city, which enjoyed a relationship with the Royal Family dating back many years, had launched a programme to develop the Cato Manor museum in 2015.
“King Zwelithini wanted to locate his mother’s remains which were buried in eThekwini so she could be reburied and it was decided the museum would be built around the tomb of the Queen Mother,” he said.
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Gumede said the museum had been built in three phases. The first was the tomb of the Queen Mother, the second phase was the development of the museum and the third will was to create a hub for Cato Manor which included an amphitheatre.
He said the museum was not completed and ready to be handed over to the City.
The completion of the uMkhumbane/Cato Manor Museum is the first phase of a five-year project that will see the emergence of the Cato Manor Freedom Park. The museum will house interactive exhibitions and collections that will showcase the Zulu culture and the role played by the Zulu Kingdom in the country’s liberation and in achieving peace in the province and the country. These include ending the war between the Zulus and the Indian community in Durban in 1949. The museum is also particularly significant as the remains of the late Queen Thomozile kaNdwandwe Zulu (King Goodwill Zwelithini’s mother) are buried on the site.
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Outlining the events preceding the official handover on Sunday, Gumede said the Mayor would host King Zwelithini at a dinner function on Friday.
On Saturday there will be a cleansing ceremony in Mpumalanga, an area renowned for fighting and bloodshed in the 80s. This will be followed by the opening of the Mpumalanga Heritage Centre. Later on Saturday evening, an overnight vigil will take place to prepare for the opening of museum because the Queen Mother is buried there.
The Mpumalanga Heritage Centre, funded by the National Department of Tourism, was conceptualised after two studies were conducted, namely the Local Economic Development Study and Township Regeneration Study for Mpumalanga township. Both studies recommended tourism as one of the key economic sectors that would stimulate Small Medium Micro Enterprise (SMME) development and job creation in the area. The Heritage Centre will showcase local history of apartheid resistance, local legends and icons, arts and culture, township lifestyle, arts and entertainment.
On Sunday, King Zwelithini, Mayor Gumede and Premier Mchunu and other invited Ministers will officially open the museum.
