So with the press giving large coverage to the R300million reburial of the late Zulu Queen, its only appropriate that we give it proper coverage. Details on the entire development are sparse, but R300m can get quite alot. If done correctly it could be a great tourism and cultural spot for the city - Durban has not benefited with all the national government spending on cultural developments which have tendered to be completely clustered around Gauteng.

City disputes reburial cost

Thu, 05 May 2011 5:40

Officials in the city of Durban said on Thursday that R300-million reportedly earmarked to rebury the mother of the Zulu king would also pay for the development of a park and museum.

Public broadcaster SABC had reported the government would spend R300-million to rebury the exhumed remains of Queen Thomozile Jezangani KaNdwandwe Zulu, the mother of King Goodwill Zwelithini, traditional leader of the country's largest ethnic group.

"The municipality would like to refute these claims," the city said in a statement.

"The reburial is part of a project that is aimed at the development of Umkhumbane Freedom Park. This project will include a fully-fledged interactive cultural museum and heritage centre, linked to associated commercial, retail and other complimentary activities.

"It is estimated that the whole project will cost R300-million."

The king had asked officials in KwaZulu-Natal to help him find the remains of his mother, who died in the 1950s and whose final resting place was unknown.

After a more than two-year search that was drawn out by legal red tape, Durban officials announced they had found a grave containing the remains of a woman named Thoko Zulu and carried out DNA tests that identified her as the queen.

She will be reburied Saturday at a memorial site in the Durban neighbourhood of Cato Manor, where she lived at the end of her life and where the cultural museum and heritage centre will be developed, officials said.

The king is the symbolic leader of South Africa's 11 million Zulus but has no formal political power.

His finances are controlled by KwaZulu-Natal provincial authorities and his lavish lifestyle — as well as the future of the Zulu royal house — have been the subject of much debate in South Africa.

Zwelithini is a descendant of King Shaka, the 19th-century leader who is still revered for uniting a large swathe of the country as the Zulu nation and waging bloody battles against the region's British colonisers.

http://news.iafrica.com/sa/725859.html

can anyone find anymore info on this one?

Ok, so i have FINALLY found more info on this one. The designs look really impressive and the design competition was won by local practice Choromanski Architects.

Here is a background to the development... and then the designs, some elements are already under construction.


Choromanski was the winner of a national design competition for Cato Manor's forced removals museum. Choromanksi Architects are currently developing the project as a cultural and urban complex comprising of the following elements:

1.queen thomo memorial
internment : 7 may 2011
construction : early 2012

2.heritage centre
construction early 2012

3.forced removals museum

4.umkhumbane square

5.umkhumbane park + amphitheatre

6.concession buildings


The heritage of Umkhumbane holds national relevance and global significance as one the worlds largest forced removals site.

Community uprisings, subjugation and eventual emancipation form a major part of the sites history. The heritage of the people who resisted oppression permeates through the present as a triumphal spirit of freedom. This spirit is an inspiration for the development of a complex which celebrates life, growth and the transition of a community of people.

The value of the original competition scheme (2003) lay in its organic approach to the preservation of heritage as well as the relationship to the sustained culture of people living in the area today.

The Site

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(2).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(13).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(14).jpg

The designs

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(3).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(4).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(5).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(6).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(7).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(8).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(9).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(10).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(11).jpg

http://www.choromanski.com/images/comp/UCP%20(12).jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/Umkumbaneculturalparkdetail.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/Umkumbaneculturalparkdetail2.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/Umkumbaneculturalparkdesign.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/umkhumbanephase1b.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/umkhumbanephase1bmore.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/Umkumbaneculturalparkqueenburial.jpg

Wow! Much better than anything I ever expected! Will be great for that area, and its proximity to the Berea and university should make this quite popular, provided security is beefed up.

yeah i think it is a great tribute to that region and long awaited new musuem/cultural development in Durban to compare with those that have gone up around the country.

where will the UKZN new medical campus be in relation to this? could see an awful lot of construction in Cato Manor

I'm absolutely loving that waterfall effect... its incredibly effective.

i cant believe how few people have commented in here. but totally agree, its some great organic design.

If that goes up it would be insane. So different...