Issued by: Ministry of Arts, Culture, science and technology
19 December 1995
MEDIA STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF ARTS, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, DR BEN NGUBANE
The Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology has allocated R1 million from his department's budget towards the development of the Tswaing Crater Museum project.
Minister Ben Ngubane today said that the Museum will offer a unique opportunity to combine aspects of science and technology with cultural development in a way that clearly supports the aims of the Reconstruction and Development Programme.
The crater is situated in the north-west corner of Gauteng and is surrounded by formal and informal settlements such as Winterveld and Soshanguve. Many people in the area were forcibly removed under apartheid and only 36,37% of the population are economically active.
The Minister said he hoped the allocation would help ensure that the people in the surrounding community derive the maximum possible benefit from the Museum.
Approximately 200 000 years ago, when a meteorite smashed into the earth, the resulting explosion left a crater about 1,13 km wide and 200 metres deep.
In the years since this spectacular event, the crater has functioned as a natural museum. Half of the original depth of 200 metres has been filled with sediment containing a unique chronicle of the human, animal and plant life in the area. Analysis of the sediment has provided the world's most complete record of vegetation and climatic change over the 200 000 years.
The crater has also been inhabited by humans for some 120 000 years. Stone age tools and weapons have been discovered on the site and on the rim of the crater is the remains of an early Tswana settlement.
The crater is currently host to more bird varieties than Britain, over 480 species of trees, shrubs, grasses and other floral species. Although mammals have been depleted over the years, the aim is to restock the reserve with species which historically inhabited it.
The recent plan to turn the meteorite crater into a site museum was spearheaded by the Natural Cultural History Museum - an associated institution of the Department of Arts, Culture, science and Technology. A site museum conserves, documents, researches and interprets the natural and cultural heritage of a site in a holistic and integrated way. The development of the project follows the Integrated Environmental Management procedure, which defines the environment to encompass biophysical, cultural and socio-economic components.
According to the National Cultural History Museum, the local community has been involved in defining how the museum would run and what it would look like.
A list of their needs has been drawn up and combined with those of the site museum, including conservation and environmental management, recreation, education and training, research, tourism and the needs of the adjacent communities for job creation. The plan is also to collect oral narratives of the area and its history, so that the museum portrays the site from the point of view of both the local community and from a scientific vantage point.
The tourist potential of the site is enormous, which in turn will provide opportunities for the development of a craft industry. The site will also be used for environmental education and recreation. The Natural Cultural History Museum also proposed that facilities for accommodating overnight guests be developed, along with a formal museum, a curio shop, a training centre, a community hall, a clinic and a library.
The Minister's allocation forms part of the department's ongoing reprioritisation of expenditure in ways that will benefit previously disadvantaged communities. The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology has committed itself to working with all stakeholders to ensure the Crater Museum realises its full potential. The Minister said that he intends to promote cooperation between the communities, the Museum and the private sector.