This museum, housed in the old Bree St fruit market, offers a wide range of exhibitions on historical themes, including the Treason Trials of 1956–61, the development of South African music and housing in the city. The satirical ‘Cartoons in Context’ are worth a look, as is the Sophiatown display, which contains a mock-up of a shebeen (unlicensed bar).
Museum Africa
Johannesburg
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.1 MILES
Do not leave Jo'burg without visiting Constitution Hill. One of South Africa's most important historical sites, the deeply moving and inspirational…
2.86 MILES
The Apartheid Museum illustrates the rise and fall of South Africa’s era of segregation and oppression, and is an absolute must-see. It uses a broad…
22.49 MILES
One of the most significant archaeological sites in the world, Sterkfontein Caves include a permanent hominid exhibit and a walkway down into the…
8 MILES
This powerful museum, named after the 12-year-old boy shot dead during the student protests in Soweto on 16 June 1976, illuminates the role of Sowetan…
27.45 MILES
Partly housed in a building that looks like a giant grassy mound on one side and shiny modern steel on the other, Maropeng is an all-in-one information…
1.19 MILES
Inaugurated in 2004, with its design based on the African concept of 'justice under a tree', the Constitutional Court is a very real symbol of modern…
10.96 MILES
A highlight of Jo'burg's northern suburbs is Liliesleaf Farm. This was the secret headquarters of the ANC (African National Congress) from 1961 until a…
10.27 MILES
Opposite one of the schools from which students marched on 16 June 1976 is this stunning open-air memorial to the bloody events that presaged the Soweto…
Nearby Johannesburg attractions
0.06 MILES
Named after South Africa’s first female trade unionist, this square is partly decorated with an array of heads, carved from old railway sleepers by…
0.09 MILES
The massive concrete pillars holding up the M1 Highway in Newtown have become an outdoor art gallery, featuring ever-changing graffiti murals by some of…
0.1 MILES
This important museum is in the restored Electricity Department’s compound, which was built in 1910 for 300-plus municipal workers and has been declared a…
0.18 MILES
An icon of the city's rebirth, this massive power station was refurbished in 2007 and now houses the impressive new headquarters of AngloGold Ashanti as…
0.22 MILES
Testament to the remarkable reawakening of downtown Jo'burg, this well-organised science museum, full of interactive exhibitions, occupies a former power…
6. Walter and Albertina Sisulu Statue
0.37 MILES
By Jo'burg artist Marina Walsh, this charming statue depicts larger-than-life versions of the Sisulus in their elder years, seated and facing each other…
0.38 MILES
Opened two days after Mandela’s 85th birthday in 2003, this cable-stayed bridge is the longest of its kind in Southern Africa and an icon of the…
0.4 MILES
It was in this three-storey building that, in the 1950s, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo set up South Africa's first black-owned law firm. After a 2012…