Groote Schuur House – waiting list

Curator Dr Rayda Becker’s much awaited tour of Groote Schuur. Cecil John Rhodes commissioned the young architect Herbert Baker to design a Cape Dutch Revival style home and office for him, as well as a place for entertaining in style.

In his will, Rhodes bequeathed Groote Schuur to the Cape colony. 80% of the house’s contents are from his time here. Rhodes sent agents to comb the world for furniture, porcelain, silver and glassware produced in the Cape. 

1910 to 1984 Groote Schuur was the Cape Town residence of South Africa’s prime ministers and presidents. Visitors ranged from Mahatma Gandhi to British prime minster, Harold MacMillan.

Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk signed the Groote Schuur Minute here on 4 May 1990 (see image). This was about the return of exiles to South Africa and the release of political prisoners.

It has been used for film locations. 2009’s Invictus directed by Clint Eastwood starring Morgan Freeman (the first actor to be cast as Mandela) and Matt Damon, who played François Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks in 1995, the South Africa rugby union team.

I have friends who remember attending events here. But now it is a museum.

South African presidents’ official Cape Town residence is in the grounds, Genadendal (formerly Westbrooke). When it was being renovated, one of the wives of former president, Jacob Zuma, stayed at Groote Schuur. The bedroom she stayed in is one of the last rooms of our tour. 

Dr Rayda Becker has been the curator (now part-time) of Groote Schuur House Museum since 2011. Prior to this Rayda was a Fine Arts professor at the University of South Africa. She was the senior art curator at the University of the Witwatersrand where she studied 1959 – 1962; subsequently she did her PhD on a South African traditional art here.

Rayda came to Cape Town in 2001 to work in the newly established Artworks Office in Parliament. She consulted for Stephan Welz & Co auctioneers on paintings and African art. With Rochelle Keene she wrote: ART ROUTES. A Guide to South African Art Collections, 2000 (Witwatersrand University Press). Rayda articles’ are primarily on South African art. But the most recent one, Rhodes and his Relics, is about the relatively unknown collection in his bedroom. She talks about this when we are in that space.

Groote Schuur Estate
Klipper Road
Rondebosch, Cape Town

A map, background info, guest list and other finer details will be sent just before the tour.

Dr Rayda Becker is giving this Culture Connect on Thursday 12 September and Tuesday 17 September 2024, 10am to noon. Bookings will be closed two days before each tour to allow for security clearance.

R300 paying a week in advance, then R400 each, please include your ID/passport number when booking and bring the original to the tour.

To book please email me: kate@cultureconnectsa.com +27 (0)72 377 8014 (don’t forget your ID/passport number)

The last Culture Connect here was 2018 and I’ve had requests ever since!

Image credits: RIBA,  Hidden Cape Town by Paul Duncan and Alain Proust and Our Constitution