A fire last week destroyed a cultural rondawel at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) on the Rhodes University campus before being brought under control by firefighters.
A fire last week destroyed a cultural rondawel at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) on the Rhodes University campus before being brought under control by firefighters.
ILAM houses the largest archive of African music and musical instruments in sub Saharan Africa. It was founded in 1954 and is regarded as the greatest repository of African music in the world and preserves thousands of historical recordings going back to 1929. It is a subdivision of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the Rhodes University campus in Grahamstown.
The building that caught fire on Tuesday last week was one of three mud rondawels at ILAM. The huts were previously used as a Cultural Village where traditional performances and rituals were conducted. However, according to ILAM sound engineer Elijah Madiba, the building was empty and was not being used for this year’s National Arts Festival when the fire ignited.
It is not clear what started the fire but Madiba said they suspect that a person smoking a cigarette could have inadvertently caused it. “People sometimes sneak in there to smoke,” he said. The grass roof burnt down completely and Madiba said that if they plan to use the structure again, it would have to be completely demolished and built up again from scratch. However, Madiba said that other than destroying the building, the fire “didn’t really affect us. The building cost us some money to build but nothing was stored in it at the time of the fire."
Makana fire chief William Welkom said that firefighters rushed to the scene after they were notified about a fire by Makana chief traffic officer Coenraad Hanekom, just after midday. At first it was believed that the bushy area at Rhodes University was on fire but when firefighters responded, they discovered that it was only a building that was on fire.
Welkom said the firefighters managed to put out the blaze. He too did not know what started it but confirmed that no one got injured.
Rhodes student Juliana Jangara said she heard sirens and saw thick smoke coming out of the bushy area behind ILAM from the window of her Prince Alfred residence nearby. “But they seemed to have it under control,” she said, commending them for their speedy work.
