- Botshabelo Cultural Village in ruins as it has been abandoned by Mpumalanga Government.
- Abandoning Botshabelo Ndebele Cultural Village, is like disgracing the status of the legendary Esther Mahlangu.
- Mpumalanga Government abandoned beneficiaries of Botshabelo Cultural Village after their successful land claim.
Date: 09 September 2026
Release: immediate
The Democratic Alliance in Mpumalanga has written to the Mpumalanga Department of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism asking them to help beneficiaries of Botshabelo Ndebele Cultural Village to renovate and revive it, because we believe that heritage sites and historic landmarks are vital for boosting local economies, job creation, and encouraging township tourism.
This call comes after the DA found that the Mpumalanga Provincial Government and the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality have abandoned and neglected the Botshabelo Mission Station, a once thriving and historic Ndebele Cultural Village in Middelburg, Mpumalanga Province, where the world-renowned Ndebele artist, Esther Mahlangu’s artwork is still on display to date.
While doing an oversight at the Cultural Village last week, we were welcomed by disappointing ruins of an old mission church and a boys hostel that had obviously not been in use for years. All the other buildings we inspected onsite, told a story of a Ndebele Cultural Village that has been neglected and abandoned for 20 years by its land claimants and the Mpumalanga Provincial Government.
At its prime, the historic Botshabelo Ndebele Cultural Village generated R300 000 annually for the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality, from 5000 tourists who visited annually to learn about its history, especially its association to the founding missionaries, the Anglo-Boer War, and Ndebele Cultural Heritage.
In 2005, everything changed when descendants of the 200 families who were forcefully removed in the 1800s by German Missionaries who created the Botshabelo Mission Station, lodged a successful land claim to the land.
Twenty years later, one of the few beneficiaries who still live onsite, told the DA this week that the families are still fighting over whether to bring in investors or not. She also mentioned that the Mpumalanga Provincial Government, and the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality abandoned and neglected the families after they successfully claimed their land back. According to the beneficiary, no training or monitory support was given to them to continue operating the Botshabelo Ndebele Cultural Village. This is where differing opinions on how to manage the site, combined with lack of resources and expertise, occurred and led to a gradual degradation of this very important historical site and tourist attraction.
The DA calls on the Mpumalanga Provincial Government to help the beneficiaries of the Botshabelo Ndebele Cultural Village to renovate and revive it because we believe that heritage sites and historic landmarks, such as the Botshabelo Ndebele Cultural Village, are vital for boosting local economies, job creation, and encouraging township tourism.
The DA also maintains that the Mpumalanga Government is accountable for the infrastructure decay, security failures, and mismanagement of the Botshabelo Ndebele Cultural Village.