The Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum is a memorial to the system of migrant labour, single sex hostels and the control of black workers under apartheid. The museum's exhibits commemorate the trials, tribulations and triumphs of migrant workers and hostel life in Southern Africa.
Lwandle was established in 1958 with hostel-type accommodation for workers in the nearby fruit and canning industry. In the 1980s, as the control of the flow of people from rural areas was eased, these hostels became overcrowded. Facilities were not provided to sustain the increased population.
With the onset of democracy in South Africa, the ANC-led government turned the hostels of Lwandle into family accommodation. Residents of the area felt that at least one hostel should be preserved to sustain a memory of how the system of apartheid had operated, and decided to establish a museum.
Opening times:
- Monday – Thursday: 08:30- 16:30
- Friday: 08:30 – 16:00
- Saturday by request only
