Cape Town, 1 April 2008 – As a public education facility in a developing economy and a newly democratic society, Iziko Museums of Cape Town is acutely aware of its mandate, which is to manage and promote Iziko’s unique combination of South Africa’s heritage collections, sites and services for the benefit of present and future generations.

In keeping with this mission, the Council of Iziko Museums of Cape Town (Iziko) has reviewed Iziko’s entrance fees and concessionary prices, with the aim of enabling maximum access to our museums, particularly for the youth.

We are proud to announce that, with effect from 1 April 2008, all children under the age of 16 years will be able to visit the museums operated by Iziko free of charge. School groups will continue to have access to special guided tours and other educational activities, at a subsidised cost. For those schools that cannot afford to visit the city, our outreach programme and mobile museum will bring the museum’s collections to them. Furthermore, the current concessionary entrance fee for South African pensioners and students remains unchanged.

Our visitor surveys have shown that, except where such a day was a public holiday, the public have not taken advantage of free entrance on Saturdays, as we had hoped. From 1 April therefore, entrance to Iziko museums will no longer be free on Saturdays. Instead, there will be free entrance to all patrons on the following selected commemorative days:

Freedom Day (27 April), international museum day (18 May), Africa Day (25 May), Youth Day (16 June), National Women’s Day (9 August), Heritage Week 2008 (22 – 28 September), National Aids Awareness Day (1 December) and Human Rights Day (from 2009).

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