AP
Nooses hang in the gallows at the Pretoria Central Prison. In background are plaques to those political prisoners who were executed.
The Gallows Memorial at the Pretoria Central Prison was officially opened by President Jacob Zuma on Thursday.
The memorial museum was erected to honour 134 political prisoners executed at the gallows during the apartheid era.
Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said the project had to be done despite the financial cost, which she however did not disclose.
“The TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) did not give an opportunity to families of those who were executed to speak out. Even those who were executed did not speak for themselves, they were silenced.”
She said interactive mechanisms, including a facebook page and a website would soon be launched for the museum.
The gallows at the prison, now known as the C Max Correctional Centre, were dismantled in 1996.
Mapisa-Nqakula encouraged South Africans to visit the centre to learn and understand “our history and how the museum plays a role in the country’s healing process”.
She said the operations of the museum at the correctional facility would not compromise security for the prison, and the museum would have its separate entrance.
Two members from each of the slain prisoners’ families have been brought to Pretoria to take part in a two-day “cleansing” ceremony which began on Wednesday.
Zuma, accompanied by several government ministers and ANC leadership, walked the 52 steps leading to the execution chamber, where he was briefed by Correctional Services commissioner Tom Moyane.
The entourage visited the chapel, execution room, autopsy room and the fridge room which were used during capital punishment.
Moyane said 4300 people went through the hangman’s noose, the majority of them being common law criminals. – Sapa
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Zuma visits execution chamber