Download PDFMore than 20 years ago, in early 2000s a bitter struggle took place for the Workers Museum (WM) and its Cottages (WMC) to be a heritage site. This struggle was a response to the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), amongst others, plan to demolish the WM and build a hotel, shopping centre and coffee shops. At one point, they even proposed taking down the Workers Museum brick by brick and building it somewhere else.
Khanya College together with South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), the Anti-Privatisation Forum and civil society engaged in a protracted struggle for the WMC. Some of the organisations who supported the struggle included the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, Bophelong, Everton West, and Freedom Park, many no longer exist.
The workers compound, as it was known, was built in 1915 to house municipal migrant workers who needed a pass to work and serve the white city. migrants were only allowed to work in the city without their families for 11 months, and return to the reserves. The city of Johannesburg was built on migrant labour, with many coming from Southern Africa, and even Tanzania.
The struggle for the WMC was against a powerful lobby of wealthy, influential and strategically placed social forces. The struggle included mobilising communities and civil society to understand the importance of history and memory for future generations. The struggle included petitions to the South African Heritage Council and a public march to the Joburg Property Company. Eventually in 2002 the Council ruled that the WMC be a heritage site, and that the hotel be built elsewhere.
This was a victory for working- class heritage in South Africa. Following the victory, Khanya College voluntarily relocated from the Cottages, prioritising it for culture and heritage; and the Workers Library merged with Khanya College. Ever since, the WMC has been integral to the College’s education, heritage and cultural work in the city; and a partner of the City.
This article was submitted as part of the August edition of the Karibu! Campaign Bulletin publication and is published bi-monthly. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the author and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
