Historic railway station once segregated for black and Indian passengers, now a rubbish-strewn site occupied by homeless people.
One of the heritage sites in Heidelberg, a gold rush era town that has been left to fall into disrepair. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
The Heidelberg Heritage Museum, which preserves more than a century of the Gauteng town’s history, is deteriorating behind closed doors… a blunt reminder of the growing crisis facing South Africa’s heritage sites.
The site is a historic precinct dating back to the town’s development in the gold rush era, but is now neglected.
Heidelberg Heritage Museum deteriorates behind closed doors
Its historic railway station, once segregated for black and Indian passengers, is a rubbish-strewn site occupied by homeless people and drug users.
Founded in the 19th century, Heidelberg town was briefly the capital of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) during the First War of Independence, before becoming an important stopover during the Witwatersrand gold rush.
The museum is the historic railway station building dating to 1895, with the station forming part of the town’s significant heritage architecture.
The building’s foundation stone was laid in 1894. The historic building was restored and acquired, in 1973, by the Rembrandt Group for use as a transport museum.
It was declared a national monument in 1975 and once housed a collection of historic vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles, including Model T Fords and a Formula One car associated with Jody Scheckter.
Its Victorian-era buildings, historic railway infrastructure and association with prominent historical figures form part of a heritage landscape that has the potential to anchor tourism and local economic development.
Historic railway station
The town played a key role in the political and military life of ZAR president Paul Kruger during the First Anglo-Boer War (1880- 1881) and was the provisional capital of the Boer Republic.
In 1893, Indian lawyer and anti-colonial stalwart Mahatma Gandhi was briefly detained at the station for failing to produce a travel permit.
In February 2024 local dignitaries and the consulate-general of India officially unveiled a bronze bust of Gandhi at the museum precinct.
Nelson Mandela, the first democratic president, received the freedom of the town on November 29, 1996.
Today, the facility documenting the town’s rich history and heritage is a symbol of neglect.
The latest supplementary valuation roll places the value of the facility at R14.56 million.
Rubbish strewn and unkempt
When The Citizen visited the museum this week, it was unkempt, with broken gutters and blocked drains. Rainwater has flooded the goods shed and fibreglass statuettes have been toppled by the wind.
The former curator’s residence is a shell of broken windows, with burnt PVC water pipes, reportedly the result of attempts to deal with a swarm of bees that made the building its home.
To top it all, the municipality is allegedly spending about R2.376 million on security at the facility, despite the museum having been closed for more than a year, with nine guards deployed daily.
This is more than a year after the municipality successfully went to court to evict businessman Bouwe Wiersma, who had operated the museum through Heidelberg Beer Festival CC.
Heidelberg Heritage Association’s Tony Burisch said it was disheartening that the facility was not operational.
Burisch said the facility has no electricity, allegedly cut by the same municipality that is supposed to be the custodian of such facilities. “This is heritage that must be protected and benefit local communities,” he said.
Not isolated example
The Heidelberg case is not an isolated example. Across South Africa, historically and culturally significant sites face deterioration caused by inadequate maintenance, weak oversight, vandalism and unfulfilled promises.
Similar concerns have been raised about Botshabelo in Mpumalanga and the Tswaing Meteorite Crater in Gauteng, while other heritage properties have deteriorated despite public funding allocated to maintain them.
Heritage specialist Khensani Maluleke said heritage sites have not brought development to local communities but are, instead, used as “a resource for salaries”.
“Heritage sites are meant to be a catalyst for economic development but they are the opposite.”
He gave the example of Kliptown, the oldest residential district of Soweto, established in 1891 on the Klipspruit farm and the site where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955.
“The bigger plan was to develop the entire area, but that never happened,” Maluleke said.
