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Stuff from Johannesburg

No investigation report two years after Bank of Lisbon building fire

Dear Johannesburg

No investigation has yet reported on the Bank of Lisbon fire that started at the head office of the Gauteng Health Department on 5 September 2018.

This was conceded yesterday by Acting Gauteng Health MEC Jacob Mamabolo in an oral reply to my questions at a virtual sitting of the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mamabolo there were four investigations into the fire by the following:

City of Johannesburg
South African Police Service
Department of Labour
Premier’s Office

He says that the Gauteng Health Department was cooperating with these investigations but could not itself investigate as it was itself a subject of investigation.

I am disappointed that Mamabolo refused to comment on the delays in all these investigations. It is outrageous that not a single finding has been made public two years after this tragedy in which three firefighters lost their lives.

I suspect there is a cover-up because the findings severely embarrass the Gauteng Provincial Government.

All the investigations need to be made public as soon as possible so that there is accountability for this terrible event.

Regards

Jack Bloom MPL
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

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Museum Africa: Art Collection

The museum’s collection is staggering, housing approximately 850,000 objects that range from the prehistoric to the contemporary. It is one of the few institutions that attempts to tell the story of Southern Africa from the Stone Age to the nuclear age. The “Johannesburg Transformations” exhibition is the museum’s centerpiece, dragging the visitor through the chaotic evolution of the city. It doesn’t shy away from the grime; it features detailed reconstructions of “shack life,” the illegal “shebeens” (speakeasies) of the 1950s, and the vibrant but overcrowded “backyard rooms” that defined the black urban experience during Apartheid. One of its most sobering permanent displays is the “Tried for Treason” exhibit, which meticulously documents the 1956 Treason Trial. Visitors can see the portraits of all 156 accused—including Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and Albertina Sisulu—and read the “little red books” placed beneath each photo, where the public is invited to write their own reflections and facts about these liberation icons.

Deep within the museum’s labyrinthine halls, you’ll find specialized branches that are world-class in their own right. The Bensusan Museum of Photography sits on the top floor, acting as a shrine to the visual history of the continent. It contains everything from rare 19th-century daguerreotypes to the legendary photojournalism of the Drum magazine era. Meanwhile, the Geology Museum houses over 17,000 specimens, including a definitive collection of the rocks and minerals that made Johannesburg possible. It is a place where you can see the actual gold-bearing conglomerate reefs of the Witwatersrand up close, stripped of their commercial value and presented as scientific wonders.