The unprecedented actions taken to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in the complete lockdown of museums across the country since 23 March 2020 until 6 July 2020, after which they could apply to the national Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture to reopen in terms of the lockdown level 3 regulations published with Gazette No. 43507.
Museums lost significant amounts in revenue with each passing day of the national lockdown. Museums in the Western Cape have risen to the challenge as far as possible and entered the virtual space of publicly accessible, timed, online exhibitions and events which was new territory for many of them. While these online exhibitions and events ensured that the public still had access to the museums during the lockdown, it did not take care of the lost opportunities in revenue from people visiting museums (entrance fees) as a result of the lockdown.
In order to ensure that museums in the Western Cape were able to access relief funding for the loss of revenue, Minister Anroux Marais approved the Cultural Affairs COVID-19 Relief Funding Strategy 2020/21. Accordingly, the relief strategy made available R 1,305,544.00 to ensure the business continuity of museums in the province during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.
The below nineteen (19) museums across the province successfully applied and are now in the process of receiving relief funding. These also include four (4) non-affiliated museums namely: District Six Museum, Darling Museum, South African Perfume Museum and the South African Jewish Museum:
| Museum Name | Location |
| Beaufort West Museum | Beaufort West |
| Caledon Museum | Caledon |
| CP Nel Museum | Oudtshoorn |
| Darling Museum | Darling |
| District Six Museum | Cape Town |
| Drostdy Museum | Swellendam |
| South African Perfume Museum | Franschhoek |
| Fransie Pienaar Museum | Prince Albert |
| Genadendal Museum | Genadendal |
| Great Brak River Museum | Great Brak |
| Hout Bay Museum | Hout Bay |
| Huguenot Memorial Museum | Franschhoek |
| Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum | Lwandle (Strand) |
| Old Harbour Museum | Hermanus |
| Oude Kerk Volksmuseum | Tulbagh |
| Shipwreck Museum | Bredasdorp |
| South African Jewish Museum | Cape Town |
| Stellenbosch Museum | Stellenbosch |
| Togryers Museum | Ceres |
Minister Marais said, “Our Provincial Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport has been working around the clock to assist our affiliated museums with compiling the necessary operational plans and provided these museums with the needed PPE to adhere to all health precautions. This was done to ensure that affiliated museums comply with the national regulations and are able to open safely to the public. As we enter Alert Level 1, we can now safely explore the best the Western Cape has to offer and each do our part to restore the local economy devastated by lockdown regulations through travelling and visiting our special local experiences”.
More information on our provincial Museum Services can be found on https://www.westerncape.gov.za/museums