Broken promises: Sarah Baartman Centre is a case study in government failure

When GroundUp visited the incomplete Sarah Baartman Remembrance Centre in Hankey there was no sign of activity. Photo: Joseph Chirume

• Construction of the Sarah Baartman Remembrance Centre in Hankey started in August 2014 with a R164-million budget and was expected to be completed in two years.
• But the site remains wholly incomplete over a decade later with costs having rocketed.
• Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson visited the site in April 2025, calling it “a prime example of how the department has failed” and promised to have the project completed.
• But when GroundUp visited seven months later, the gates were locked with no sign of activity or security guards.

Construction of the Sarah Baartman Remembrance Centre in Hankey, Eastern Cape, started in August 2014 with a budget of R164-million. It was expected to be completed in two years.

Occupying more than four hectares of land the centre is in honour of Sarah Baartman, a Khoi woman, originally from this part of the Gamtoos Valley, who was put on display in Europe in the 19th century.

The centre, located near the site where she was buried, was to include a museum, archives, a garden, shops, an auditorium and classrooms. The project was meant to create 1,000 jobs and breathe new life into the little towns of Hankey and Patensie.

In August 2016, we reported that construction had been plagued by work stoppages caused by labour disputes and the centre was months behind schedule. In April 2019, we reported that the Minister of Arts and Culture, then Nathi Mthethwa, had made a site visit and said his department would ensure that the centre was completed that year.

“This will be another Gauteng,” Mthethwa told residents in the Vusumzi community hall. “We want to turn Hankey into a smart city complete with free wifi and shops that operate for 24 hours.”

The cost had rocketed to R280-million by then and the centre was still not complete.

On 17 April 2025, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson visited the site. He called it “a prime example of how the department has failed in its core function of delivering social infrastructure to communities”.

“Over a decade, three contractors have attempted to complete the Centre, yet it remains wholly incomplete,” he said in a statement.

Lubbe Construction (Pty) Ltd was replaced in December 2017 by Transtruct Building and Civil Contractors, after several protests by workers and angry residents.

“I have no doubt that the measures announced today will ensure the centre’s completion as soon as possible,” the minister said in his April visit.

“It is imperative that we honour her [Baartman] memory with the dignity and respect she deserves.”

But when GroundUp visited the site seven months later, there was no sign of activity. The gates were locked. There was not a single security guard.

Yolene Basson, leader of the Gonaqua House of Apollonia, told us: “As a descendant of the Khoi-San people, the very lineage from which Sarah Baartman originates, I cannot help but feel a profound sense of sorrow, disappointment, and disillusionment.”

“This memorial centre was meant to be a sanctuary of dignity, remembrance, and restoration for a woman whose story embodies centuries of exploitation, erasure, and resilience. Instead, it has become a symbol of neglect.”

“When one considers that the resting places of Sarah Baartman and Chief David Stuurman, two towering pillars of our heritage, occupy this neglected landscape, the question of government seriousness becomes unavoidable.”

Hankey resident Jasper Joubert said construction stopped a long time ago. “We are now in the dark whether the centre will ever be completed or will turn into another white elephant.”

Kouga Municipality spokesperson Monique Basson said they welcomed the “recent intervention by the new minister” and said funding had been secured for the 2025/26 financial year to revive the project.

She said the centre “holds significant potential for job creation, tourism growth and broader economic development” and the municipality would facilitate the national government completing the project.

Basson said, “What we need is transparent auditing and accountability for funds spent and wasted.”

At the time of his visit, Macpherson revealed that his department had identified 30 projects across the country as priority projects for 2025, and the Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance was one of these. A newly formed entity, the Strategic and Special Delivery Unit, was tasked with ensuring these projects are completed.

The minister’s spokesperson James de Villiers said the unit, comprising experts, would provide the minister with fortnightly progress reports.

At a press briefing on Thursday, the minister said that the Baartman centre was “an unacceptable situation”. He blamed the supply chain management department. He said the bidder who was awarded the contract to complete the centre “turned out to have unverifiable credentials and details”. The director-general therefore cancelled the process. He said the Independent Development Trust is now tasked with procuring an implementing agent.

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