Seabrooke gift drives R341m Wits cultural precinct

A donation from alumnus Chris Seabrooke’s family trust will fund most of a planned R341 million cultural precinct at Wits University, opening its Braamfontein campus to greater public access and supporting Johannesburg’s regeneration.

The five-year development will connect and expand the university’s arts, performance and heritage facilities along its south-eastern edge. It will combine academic buildings, theatres and exhibition spaces with restaurants, coffee shops, bookshops and other public amenities.

Wits said the Seabrooke Family Trust had donated shares to the Wits Foundation, which would be entitled to sell them through block trades or on the market over the project’s estimated five-year duration. The proceeds will fund most of the capital cost, with the university contributing the balance.

Seabrooke, who completed his MBA at Wits in 1985, is chief executive of Sabvest. His involvement in the arts includes serving as chairman of the State Theatre of South Africa and deputy chairman of the inaugural National Arts Council.

“The arts have an extraordinary ability to bring people together and to change the character of a place,” Seabrooke said.

“Our hope is that this investment will enable Wits to create a precinct that belongs not only to its students, staff and academics, but to Johannesburg. We want to help build a place that attracts people to Braamfontein, supports creativity and leaves a cultural legacy for generations to come.”

The precinct will be embedded in the Faculty of Humanities and the Wits School of Arts. It will incorporate the Wits Art Museum, Jack Ginsberg Centre for Book Arts and Chris Seabrooke Music Hall, alongside a new Digital Arts building and an additional floor for the School of Arts.

Further work will consolidate music facilities, potentially providing a future home for a symphony orchestra. Plans also include upgraded Fine Arts facilities, exhibition and foyer spaces, the Wits Theatre Amphitheatre, and a new building and rooftop extension opening up the Wits Theatre Complex.

Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Zeblon Vilakazi said the project reflected the university’s relationship with Johannesburg and its role in the city’s social, cultural and economic life.

“The University and the City of Johannesburg have grown together for more than a century. We cannot separate the future of the University from the future of this City. The Cultural Precinct is about opening Wits to Johannesburg and creating spaces where students, artists, scholars and the public can meet, create and exchange ideas,” he said.

The development will bring disciplines including digital arts, film and television, fine arts, music, theatre and performance into closer contact with public audiences. Humanities dean Professor Mucha Musemwa said it would extend connections with historically marginalised communities while supporting teaching and the university’s public role.

Wits School of Arts head Professor Rene Smith said the precinct would support teaching, research, collaboration and residencies rooted in Johannesburg’s creative environment. The university positioned the project within a wider cultural network that includes the Joburg Theatre, Market Theatre, Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct and Constitutional Court.

Jozi My Jozi chief executive Innocent Mabusela welcomed the investment, saying Johannesburg’s renewal required collaboration between institutions, businesses, communities and government. He said the precinct could create opportunities for artists, students, audiences and entrepreneurs while strengthening local enterprise.

The project follows investments in the Wits Anglo American Digital Dome and the Brian and Dorothy Zylstra Sports Complex, forming part of the university’s broader effort to make its facilities more accessible to the public.

Source: Wits University, official statement supplied.