Ros Devereux, the head of the Built Environment Section at the Amafa, recently guided the Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) who attended the tour of the site and informed them of the new proposals and how that necessitated the demolition of some of the buildings on site.

Dr Mxolisi Dlamuka, chief executive of the KZN Amafa and Research Institute, said the demolition of the nuns’ chapel, built in 1940, has caused some concern among the interested and affected parties.

He said the maternity wards, built in the early 1900s, and the X-ray and laboratory building, built in 1925, are among the significant buildings set for demolition.

“The move is essential because excavation under the building is required for basement accommodation in the new collections wing. This matter was raised by the I&APs (Interested and/or Affected Parties) during the previous application process, and Amafa required the applicants to put forward proposals for the reconstruction or memorialisation of the chapel elsewhere on the site.

“A proposal that is still under discussion and to be confirmed by the museum is to reconstruct the walls and windows as part of a display in the new building that will replace the old St Anne’s Outpatients building at the entrance to the site on Jabu Ndlovu Street,” Dlamuka said.

He added that another concern raised by the I&APs was the encroachment onto the space occupied by the remaining buildings with a limited buffer. It was feared that the new structures would dominate the old and would not allow a clear view of the original building, in particular, so it was necessary for those concerned to visit the site to see what the impact would be.

Dlamuka said the responses from the I&APs will be discussed at a meeting to be scheduled once all have been collated. The I&APs who respond will be given a chance to air their concerns at that meeting, which will be held online and will be open to the public.

Concerning the progress from the museum’s side, Dlamuka said the KZN Museum has followed the processes as laid out in the national and provincial heritage legislation.

The application for comment on the development of a site over 5 000m² was handled in 2023 and the KZN Amafa and Research Institute did not object to the development, subject to an application being submitted to the Institute, for a permit for the demolition of some of the buildings on site and the restoration and alteration of the remaining structures on site, he said.

“The permit application is currently under review, and it has triggered the necessity to undertake the public consultation process. Many neighbours did not receive the registered mail notifications from the SA Post Office posted in December 2024, so Amafa had to find other means to reach out to the public for comment,” he said.

These structures are over 60 years of age and fall within the general protection of such buildings as contained in Section 34 of the National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999, and Section 37 of the KZN Amafa and Research Institute Act, Act 5 of 2018, he added.

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