Mashatile vows to restore historic Kliptown sites
Deputy President Paul Mashatile has described the deterioration of Water Sisulu Square and Charlotte Maxeke’s Memorial home in Kliptown as unfortunate.
Mashatile was speaking in Kliptown, Soweto, on Friday, during the launch of the Clean the City and Towns campaign.
The deputy president was accompanied by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero.
Mashatile said he was worried about seeing Water Sisulu Square in a state of disrepair.
“During the July unrest, people came to the square and started looting, and because there was a change of government in the municipality at the time, the municipality was not run by the ANC, and there was no commitment to secure the place,” said Mashatile.
He said the square should not have been in the state that it is currently in.
The deputy president assured the public that the government is working on restoring Charlotte Maxeke’s Memorial home into a museum to honour her legacy.
Freedom fighter Charlotte Maxeke spent her final days in the same home in Kliptown, the township where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955.
“Charlotte Maxeke's house, there is a foundation that wants to turn it into a beautiful museum, but they are constrained by the people who are staying within the yard,” said Mashatile.
He said the mayor of Johannesburg will be moving the families staying in the memorial home yard to subsidised houses to allow the development of the museum.
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