Anziske Kayster

Museum director

As a child, growing up in Scottsville, Kraaifontein, Anziske dreamt of having a husband and children. “I’m a mom through and through; I never thought of studying or having a career.”

An outing to the Castle in Cape Town upset those plans. “That’s where I decided I wanted to be a tour guide. I was entranced! They shut the door while we were in that dark room and all the other kids screamed. All I saw was Adam Tas lying on the cold stone floor in front of me.”

After studying archaeology and museology, and obtaining a master’s degree in cultural history and heritage tourism, Anziske is now busy studying towards a doctorate. She started working at the museum in GraaffReinet on 1 January 1997.

“I didn’t know anything about the place – not even that it’s a six-hour drive from the Cape. I thought my dad was crazy when he stopped at my place at 02:00 in the morning to pick me up to drive to Graaff-Reinet.”

She moved into the school hostel, and her first task was to look after the fossil collection. The longer she lived here and worked at the museum, the better she understood the history of the place and got a different perspective on many things.

“People are angry all the time. Everyone has issues they have to deal with, but many don’t realise we all struggle with the same things. I want to try to promote tolerance and fill the gaps I see in the history that we’re taught. Hopefully it will help people to understand one another better.”

When Anziske was promoted to the position of director of the museum, she had to get licences for the 85 firearms in the collection.

“What a palaver! I had to fire every one of them, from the small submachine gun to the long-barrelled shotgun. That thing has quite a kick! I had a bruise.”