WORK is set to begin on Europe’s first museum and public heritage site dedicated to anti-apartheid history today.

The site of the former African National Congress (ANC)’s London headquarters, which was bombed by the apartheid regime in 1982, will be restored in a £3.5m project to pave the way for The Anti-Apartheid Legacy: Centre of Memory and Learning.

The museum will feature a permanent exhibition on the movement, display archival material and offer a temporary gallery for contemporary issues like migration and inequality. 

It will highlight underrepresented, black-led history, promote anti-racism, address imbalances in British heritage and offer affordable workspaces for community groups, as well as learning and employment programmes. 

A ceremony at the site is set to take place today, with attendees including London’s Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard and the South African High Commissioner Jeremiah Kingsley Mamabolo.

Professor Chris Mullard, Liliesleaf Trust UK chairman, said: “After engaging over 60,000 people in five years, the centre will be a permanent home for our work, making the history of anti-apartheid solidarity accessible and highlighting how collaboration led to social change.”