Workers Museum
Workers Museum
4
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4.0
13 reviews
Excellent
7
Very good
2
Average
2
Poor
1
Terrible
1
Pamelaebe
Evergreen, CO17 contributions
Nov 2016 • Couples
This museum opened my eyes (as a new tourist) to the struggles and horrors of apartheid. I left with a sad heart for the people who were so abused at this compound. This was our introduction to learning about the real story of the workers of South Africa and it will stay with me forever. We are so grateful our tour guide brought us here to begin our education before going on to Soweto, the Hector Pieterson Museum, and the Apartheid Museum.
Written 14 December 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SarC1971
23 contributions
This was a real educational eye opener, shocking! Sheila the guide was so knowledgeable and interesting, we wish we had her expertise with us on some of our other visits! Thanks Sheila - this place is a must visit!
Written 30 March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
145gemmal
Melbourne, Australia182 contributions
Feb 2015 • Solo
I loved my visit to the workers museum.
It's quite a small place, but it has a lot of detail and extremely interesting and well represented history. And it's free!
Definitely worth a visit. I spent about an hour there and found it thoroughly enjoyable and educational.
It's quite a small place, but it has a lot of detail and extremely interesting and well represented history. And it's free!
Definitely worth a visit. I spent about an hour there and found it thoroughly enjoyable and educational.
Written 14 March 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris P
Shanghai, China6,032 contributions
Feb 2020 • Solo
I was in the area and wandering around, when I discovered this little museum. It’s free to get in and there is not much there, but glad that it is being preserved and you can see first hand the conditions of migrant labor. Please be aware of safety in the area, if you look like a tourist
Written 5 May 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Coenraad B
Johannesburg8 contributions
Sept 2022 • Solo
You can’t understand South Africa’s political economy without understanding the evolution of its labour economy. The City of Joburg runs a surprisingly good Worker’s Museum at a former municipal hostel for migrant sanitation workers circa 1913 just off Mary Fitzgerald Square. It tells the story of the migrant labour system where workers since the 1880’s were recruited from rural homelands in South Africa and from neighboring countries (as far as Malawi and Zambia) and China to work in mines and cities. The hostels were dehumanizing, autocratic institutions that offered no privacy or choice run by white men oblivious to their own debasement. They also helped bequeath the persistent inertia on rural underdevelopment, unequal development, structural unemployment, economic underperformance, strike violence, violent crime and gender-based violence that still pervades South Africa today. Some labour hostels still remain, but in a much different form.
Written 11 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WTisSearching
Singapore, Singapore278 contributions
Aug 2017 • Family
Eye opening. Hard to believe that people could treat others so badly. Good to see schoolchildren visiting.
Written 24 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Priscilla A
6 contributions
Apr 2016
this museum is very well done, they have guides, but you must call in advance and schedule. However if you are not able to do that it is still a must see...the wealth of Joburg and South Africa is the mines and without labor the mines have not value, so this museum does justice to tell the story of the mineworkers and what they endured to bring the wealth of the mines to western markets. it tells the story of what they did to resist and how the apartheid system crashed as a result of internal contradictions, i.e. the exploitation of labor.
Written 1 May 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
VanessaPerumal
Cape Town Central, South Africa208 contributions
Feb 2016 • Friends
Over the years I often go to Workers Museum for workshops and meetings. Steeped in history this is a gem find and tells many stories of yesteryear and the struggle of workers trapped in the migrant labour system. Try not to miss it especially if you around the Newtown area. on the doorstep of Sci-Bona across the road from Market Theatre and short walk to Bassline bordering across Mary FitzGerald Square. Built by the City of Joburg in 1913. (Info from their website) the Museam was used initially to house their Cleansing and Sanitary Staff.
From 1927, it was used to house labourers employed in a number of power stations in the area, and from 1972, was used to house general municipal workers.
The compound was operational until as recently as the early 80's, and finally converted into a storage facility in the late 80's.
It was one of a few remaining compounds that was run by the Johannesburg municipality.
From 1927, it was used to house labourers employed in a number of power stations in the area, and from 1972, was used to house general municipal workers.
The compound was operational until as recently as the early 80's, and finally converted into a storage facility in the late 80's.
It was one of a few remaining compounds that was run by the Johannesburg municipality.
Written 25 April 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Liepollo Leboha... P
Johannesburg, South Africa87 contributions
Mar 2015
What a fantastic ode to worker's struggles, South African history /ourstory and herstory this place once was.Sadly marginalised and finally destroyed by the badly managed Newtown project, the musueum stands empty and unused.A disgusting waste of a powerful heritage ,replete with living history
Written 11 February 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reservarlden
London, UK1,042 contributions
Jan 2016 • Solo
Despite arriving to visit the museum at 16.05 today and seeing that it is open until 17.00, i had just passed the entrance where a man waved me in (there is no admission charge) when suddenly a woman said that she is closing at 16.30 and I cannot enter as she has already put the alarm on. I asked her if I could have a very quick look around and she firmly replied No. Considering this is at the peak of the touris season and that it is Tuesday (many museums in Johannesburg are closed I Mondays), I was fairly taken aback at her unhelpfulness.
Written 5 January 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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