museums

International travellers have for the umpteenth time picked Cape Town as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, ranking the Mother City 24th out of 1 830 cities from around the globe for being a fun place to visit.

International travellers have for the umpteenth time picked Cape Town as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, ranking the Mother City 24th out of 1 830 cities from around the globe for being a fun place to visit.

The Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town has become the first museum in Africa to exhibit a standing replica of the two-million-year-old Australopithecus sediba - dubbed "Karabo" - one of the most complete skeletons of an early human relative that has ever been found.

Twenty years of freedom have transformed Soweto, once a sprawling dormitory dumping ground for Johannesburg's black workers, into a green and attractive city of its own, with housing, parks, shopping malls, efficient public transport and a vibrant tourist trade.

Since Nelson Mandela was released from prison in February 1990, a number of world-class museums, monuments and precincts have been developed to bring his story to life. Now, a travel map featuring these and other attractions has been launched to help tourists "walk in Mandela's footsteps".

To foster a lifelong love for reading among the world's children, Biblionef donates books to schools, libraries and early childhood development centres. The project has reached some 3 million children, introducing them to a world of new stories and ideas. 

From the traditional artefacts of ancient cultures to the cutting-edge work of today's practitioners, South Africa's art museums and galleries offer visitors a rich artistic feast.

Jan Braai wants the nation to unite around a fire on Heritage Day. Photo: braai.com   By Anne Taylor 23 September 2013 September 24 is Heritage Day in...

Nelson Mandela was born and raised in rural Eastern Cape. It is here that he learned about politics at the knees of his tribal elders, and it is here that he retired from active politics as he aged.
• Mandela exhibition goes to Paris

The new Palaeosciences Centre of Excellence at Wits University will focus on increasing palaeontological research and making South Africa's relatively unresearched fossil heritage more accessible to the public.
• Fossils tell the mammal story