The DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History, South Africa

DITSONG: Museums of South Africa (DITSONG) is one of the two National Flagship Institutions constituted in terms of the Cultural Institutions Act, No. 19 of 1998. DITSONG is a Schedule 3A Public Entity accountable to Parliament in terms of its oversight and financial management, as required by legislation. The DITSONG Council, as the Accounting Authority, has fiduciary responsibility for the Institution. “Ditsong” is a Sesotho word meaning “a point where cultures converge”, which is appropriate given the range and extent of specimens and artefacts that DITSONG houses, both numerically and in diversity. DITSONG develops, manages and administers some of the largest and most significant Southern African heritage assets in the fields of fauna, palaeontology, cultural history, anthropology, archaeology and military history to ensure sustainable and responsible management of these irreplaceable national heritage assets on behalf of the people of South Africa.DITSONG is an amalgamation of eight museums, seven in Tshwane and one in Johannesburg. These are constituted by three national museums, together with aligned site museums, as follows: DITSONG: National Museum of Natural History (DNMCH), DITSONG: Tswaing Meteorite Crater, DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History, DITSONG: Kruger Museum, DITSONG: Pioneer Museum, DITSONG: Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum, DITSONG: Sammy Marks Museum, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History. DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History explores South Africa’s cultural diversity in various permanent and temporary exhibitions. These include rock paintings and engravings of the San people; thousand-year-old Iron Age figurines from Schroda in the Limpopo Province (described as “the best known artefacts indicating ritual behaviour in the Early Iron Age”); and an exhibition on Marabastad that is a true example of a cosmopolitan and fully integrated rainbow nation before apartheid. DNMCH is the custodian of heritage objects and the collection can be considered one of the largest in South Africa.

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The DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History, South Africa

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Dr. Noel Solani

Director

Dr. Noel SolaniDirector

Noel Solani is a heritage professional from South Africa. In South Africa, he has been involved with new heritage institutions over more than 20 years. He was part of the initiative that was charged with transforming Robben Island Prison to a museum in 1997. The Robben Island Museum was declared a World Heritage Site during the period in which he was part of the museum. The Minister of Arts and Culture in South Africa, in 2003, appointed him to serve on the first Board of the Albert Luthuli Museum. He served in the Board for two consecutive terms. Chief Albert Luthuli was the first African to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. For a period of more than 10 years, he worked for the Nelson Mandela Museum, an initiative he was involved in while still at Robben Island Museum. After taking a break from museums and heritage institutions, he focused on research under the auspices of the Mzala Nxumalo Centre in Pietermaritzburg. When he joined Mzala Nxumalo Centre, the institution was hardly 6 months in operation. In 2018, he went back to the museums and became the Director of the DITSONG: National Museum of Cultural History in Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa.
Noel Solani studied history, heritage and Public history, starting at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, and at the University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.