Nine of Johannesburg's museums will benefit from about R5-million which is being spent on creating a single database to record details of more than a million items stored the museums. When complete, it will be available on the Internet where one will be able to search the collection of historical photographs, papers, paintings and centuries-old artefacts such as axes, drums, and beadwork. The project is part of more than R12-million being spent on Johannesburg's council-owned museums.
The Gauteng provincial government has also given R4.2-million for physical upgrades to MuseuMAfricA in Newtown whose collections include Africana, the Bensusan photography museum and a geological collection. The money will be used to double the amount of exhibition space, to 2700m². The museum will also benefit from a R2-million donation from the National Lottery Board, which will be used to build a new geological exhibition. This collection, the oldest in Johannesburg, includes rare rock specimens. MuseuMAfricA is housed in a 92-year-old building that was Johannesburg's first fruit and vegetable market. It was renovated in the 1990s. The museum’s collection began as a private collection. In 1935 the council bought it and the collection was opened to the public and housed in the Johannesburg Library. In 1994 it was relocated to MuseuMAfricA.