Apartheid Museum

Infobox Museum
name = Apartheid Museum

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imagesize = 250
map_type =
map_caption = Apartheid Museum
latitude = -26.2376
longitude = 28.0090
established = 2001
dissolved =
location = Johannesburg, RSA
type = Specialized museums
visitors =
director =
curator =
publictransit =
website = http://www.apartheidmuseum.org"APARTHEID" was, in effect, a more brutal application of the workings of colonial ambition, first brought onto the African Continent by Europeans. The term "Apartheid" derives from Dutch and the system was brought into law by a supremacist white government. The system, at its root, propagated the notion that people, other than those of European descent, were sub-human. Apartheid held for as long as it did for a number of reasons; not least of which was sheer brutality, assassination and a sustained use of various media platforms, churches, academia and the judiciary to advance the crime. The propaganda was layered over with outright lies and deceit about the so called "Non-Europeans", our culture and our achievements. But it was the colour of the skin around which the entire system was constructed. White business and the white population in general thrived under a circumstance in which the colour of the skin precluded the greater majority from active participation in the economy. While other white businesses used the opportunities inherent in that system, the twin brothers Abraham and Solomon Krok conquered another more participatory gap in the apartheid market. They manufactured a hydroquinone based concoction and sold it off as "skincare" to black skinned people already dehumanized by the oppressive apartheid system. They sold short term lightening of the skin to those struggling to escape the debilitating, psychological and physical reality of apartheid. Many users of these products are now scarred for life by the irreversible effects of the hydroquinone. [http://www.stainbank.co.za/images/ABEANDSOLLYKROK.pdf] The foundations of Abe and Solly Krok's enormous wealth is rested on the low self esteem that apartheid induced in its victims. This wealth they brought into a partnership with high profile individuals, politically connected under a now democratic government attempting to advance Black Economic Empowerment. Together they pitched for a Casino License and it was granted by the GAUTENG GAMBLING BOARD. Today South Africa boasts GOLD REEF as a major gambling entity listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Through GOLD REEF, the owners of the structure pictured here and which they chose to call "The Apartheid Museum" is marketed worldwide as the intellectual vision of Abraham and Solomon Krok and a philanthropic gesture of GOLD REEF. The heading TRADEMARK CONTROVERSY below is short and yet it typically demonstrates why Mike Stainbank, the founder and only registered owner of the trademark The Apartheid Museum, as early as 1990, held the view that apartheid would continue beyond the negotiated political settlement of 1994. In structuring his concept under the trademark THE APARTHEID MUSEUM he planned for advocacy and activism in an effort to defeat lies and deceit about indigenous Africans, our culture and our achievements. Sadly, he never anticipated that his vision of THE APARTHEID MUSEUM would become the subject and object of this deceit. This information, voluntereed under THE APARTHEID MUSEUM trademark, continues to make the point that the GOLD REEF attack on the trademark was of a colonial and apartheid mindset that, beyond commercial exploitation and cultural dispossession, seeks to mask the role that ABE and SOLLY KROK themselves played in the dehumanization of Black people under apartheid. The ALTERNATIVE information supplied on this page deliberately omits critical irrefutable facts to sustain and coincide with the version marketed by GOLD REEF. The repeated edits on this entry and other information supplied is manipulated on this media platform (and others) in order to perpetuate apartheid style fabrication, deceit and misinformation. END

The Apartheid Museum is a museum complex in Johannesburg, South Africa dedicated to illustrating apartheid and the 20th century history of South Africa.

History

In 1995, the South African government created a process to grant casino licenses, and established an agency called the Gambling Board. As a part of any bid to build a casino in South Africa, developers are required to demonstrate how their casino would attract tourism and stimulate job growth.

A consortium, called Akani eGoli, put in a bid to build a casino in Gold Reef City whose plans included a complex called Freedom Park. [http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=552&fArticleId=4304354 Business Report Article] ] Their bid was successful, and space was created for the complex next to Gold Reef City Casino. The name of "Freedom Park" was later changed "Apartheid Museum" leading to the trademark controversy and legal action. The construction costs of the Apartheid Museum were around 80 million Rand, which was paid for by Akani eGoli.

The museum was registered as a Section 21 [http://www.cipro.co.za/ccc/EntDet.asp?T1=M2001019108&T2=THE%20SOUTH%20AFRICAN%20APARTHEID%20MUSEUM%20AT%20FREEDOM%20PARK&T3=2001/019108/08 Cipro entry] ] company, which means that it was incorporated not for profit, with an independent board of trustees. The company is separate from Akani eGoli, which has leased the museum to the Section 21 company for the duration of its casino licence. The museum therefore relies on donations, contributions, and sponsorships to sustain its growth. [http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/HTML_APM/shortstory2.html Official site (history)] ]

Design

The museum was designed by an architectural consortium, which was made out of several leading firms. The building was designed to reflect the South African experience and to be centred around a garden designed to replicate the indigenous Veld.

The exhibits were organised and created by a team of curators, filmmakers, historians, and designers to include film footage, photographs, text panels, and artefacts. A series of 22 separate exhibition areas lead the visitor sequentally through the prelude to and history of apartheid, including the situation in South Africa post-apartheid.

Visitors Information

Open from 9-5, the Museum is closed Mondays, Good Friday and Christmas Day and costs R30 for adults. An audio guide is available. Guided tours are an additional R5 per person and must be booked in advance. They say that it takes 2.5 hours to go the whole way around the museum or if you don't read all the information you can complete it in 1.5 hours. There is a coffee shop and bookshop. A proportion of the museum's exhibitions are outside and will be wet if it is raining.

Trademark Controversy

THE APARTHEID MUSEUM was registered as a trademark in Class 41 in 1990 by Mike Stainbank. Stainbank later registered The Apartheid Museum as a trademark in 1998 in Class 35. When the initially proposed Freedom Park was renamed to Apartheid Museum in 2001, Stainbank took legal action for infringement of the trademark against Akani Egoli - the holder of the Casino License. The case of infringement that Stainbank brought against Akani Egoli was never heard, because the Section 21 company "The South African Apartheid Museum at Freedom Park" which was created by Solomon and Abraham Krok applied for the expungement of the trademark The Apartheid Museum in Class 41. The Krok Family fortune played a major role in the application for the Casino Licence by Akani Egoli, which trades as Gold Reef City and Casino. The application for expungement succeeded in the court of Mr. Justice Southwood and in effect put paid to the prospects of the infringement action. Stainbank maintains that the judgment was wrong in law. In terms of International Law governing the protection of Registered Trademarks, Stainbank's activism and advocacy objectives envisaged under his concept continues under the trademark of The Apartheid Museum in Class 35. This trademark and the efforts of The Apartheid Museum can be accessed at [http://www.stainbank.co.za/.] ] Current legal action sees the same company - The South African Apartheid Museum at Fredom Park - applying for the expungement of Stainbank's trademark in Class 35 which, as mentioned earlier, was registered in 1998. This action, accompanied by an appeal to the court for a perpetual silence from Stainbank, comes in the wake of infringement proceedings insitituted by Stainbank against GOLD REEF, Akani Egoli and five others for infringement of the trademark The Apartheid Museum in Class 35.

References

ee also

[http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=BD4A698902] [http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=BD4A704972] [http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=3155245] [http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/TarkArticle.aspx?ID=3160260] [http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=4273676] [http://www.stainbank.co.za/images/PEOPLE%20OF%20AUSTRALIA%20-%2012%20February%202008.pdf]

External links

* [http://www.apartheidmuseum.org/ Official website]

* [http://www.stainbank.co.za/ Official website]