1. THE MVEZO SITE AND ITS POSITION IN RELATION TO THE NELSON MANDELA MUSEUM
Presented by: Department of Arts and Culture
Date: 30 August 2016

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS PURPOSE OF PRESENTATION BACKGROUND
MVEZO LEGAL STATUS
MVEZO POSITION IN RELATION TO NELSON MANDELA MUSEUM
DAC EXPENDITURE ON MVEZO 2

3. 1. PURPOSE OF THE PRESENTATION
To provide a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on the Mvezo site and its position in relation to the Nelson Mandela Museum (NMM)

4. 2. BACKGROUND
After his release from imprisonment, Mr Nelson Mandela, as the first democratically elected President of South Africa, received a significant number of gifts from the South African and International Community in recognition and appreciation of the role he played in the struggle for peace, freedom and democracy in South Africa and the world.
In accepting the gifts he indicated that he did so, on behalf of all people of South Africa and further expressed the wish that the gifts be displayed for the benefit and appreciation of the nation, at or near his home village, Qunu, in the Eastern Cape.
It is for this reason that the museum, at its inception, comprised the impressive Bhunga building in Mthatha, the Qunu component and the open-air museum at Mvezo.

5. 3. MVEZO LEGAL STATUS
Mvezo is the birthplace of Nelson Mandela and was the second of three components of the Nelson Mandela Museum.
According to the original departmental concept for developing the site, the first phase was to develop an open-air display and Interpretative Centre aimed at preserving and displaying the remains of President Mandela’s homestead in Mvezo where the President was born, for visitors and tourists.
A letter of consent was obtained from the Rural District Council representing the Sitebe Tribal Authority on 26 August 1999.
Approval for Permission to Occupy (PTO) the site for both planning and building purposes was obtained from the Provincial Department of Land Affairs on 4 November
The Mvezo site was originally envisaged to be part of the declared cultural institution, the Nelson Mandela Museum, administered under the Declared Cultural Institutions Act, and a Schedule 3a public entity in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act.
As the site contained the physical remains of President Mandela’s homestead where the President was born, Mvezo is also a heritage site with possible archaeological material administered under the National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999.

6. 4. MVESO POSITION IN RELATION TO NMM
After the installation of Chief Mandla Mandela, a grandson to President Nelson Mandela as Chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council, the Chief proceeded to establish a Great Place on the Mvezo site.
The first phase had been completed and the museum was in the process of implementing the second phase which would have entailed the establishment of cultural performance space, traditional food and guided historic tours and hikes as the core activities of the envisaged cultural village.
Funding from the National Lottery was sourced by the Museum for the development of the infrastructure.
The museum also made a funding application to the then Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) and an amount of R5 million was promised from the Environmental Affairs’ poverty alleviation programme.
Chief Mandela constructed 5 rondavels to the right of the ruins of the six original rondavels where President Mandela was born and spent his early formative years. Construction had further been done at the time on top of the ruins of two of the six rondavels.
The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), as the authority responsible for issuing relevant permits had instructed the Nelson Mandela Museum to immediately stop the developments at Mvezo because no permit was issued and that the development be viewed as unlawful. SAHRA advised that the 5 rondavels do not comply with the initial infrastructure of the entire architectural structure of the building.
Chief Mandela was of the view that the museum and SAHRA had no legal authority over the development of the site which led to tension with the SAHRA and the museum management.

7. 4. MVESO POSITION IN RELATION TO NMM Cont.…
The then Minister of Arts and Culture, Minister Pallo Jordan coordinated a meeting with the then Chairperson of the Nelson Mandela Museum Council and Chief Mandela to collectively resolve this matter, unfortunately the meeting did not yield positive results.
On 01 August 2008, after considering the situation at Mvezo and the continued inability of the museum to operate there, the Museum Council resolved to review Museum expenditure regarding Mvezo, recall the caretaker, withdraw all operations from Mvezo, and refrain from discussing the matter with the media who had taken a keen interest in the site,
On 24th January 2009 the Council confirmed its decision to withdraw operations from Mvezo, resolved to remove Mvezo from promotional material, resolved to avoid dragging Mr Mandela’s name to the courts or media around the matter, to accept that it could no longer operate at Mvezo.
On 19 September 2009 the Council re-iterated is disengagement from Mvezo and resolved to rescind the museum’s application to the national lottery without prejudice to any of the museum’s future applications or collaborative arrangements. This decision was taken since the Council determined that there is a breakdown in communication and it no longer controlled the site.
The last attempt at a solution was when Minister Lulu Xingwana convened a meeting with all the relevant stakeholders: the Chief, the ANC Eastern Cape, the Nelson Mandela Museum and the National Lottery to resolve this matter. However, the meeting was cancelled.

8. 5. DAC EXPENDITURE ON MVESO
The DAC spent an amount of approximately R11 million on the development of infrastructure through the Department of Public Works for the first phase of Mveso before Chief Mandela occupied the site.
The infrastructure included:
Outdoor exhibition
Viewing deck
Pathway to the homestead ruins
Septic tank
Borehole and water tank for use by the museum and the village
Ablutions facilities
Fencing
Landscaping

9. DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE
12/2/2017
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