About 400 art works were damaged when the basement of the Tatham Art Gallery in Pietermaritzburg was flooded on Friday.
The Witness’s Facebook page said the flooding was apparently caused by one of the water pumps malfunctioning‚ which caused it to burst.
“Millions of rands worth of art” has been damaged‚ the Weekend Witness reported on Saturday
Footage on the Weekend Witness’s online site shows artworks stacked on the floor with water lapping the bottom of them. Those higher up were unharmed.
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A local company‚ Action Refrigeration‚ helped to pump the water out of the basement.
The gallery‚ which is more than 100 years old‚ has collections older artwork and of current South African art.
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The gallery is temporarily closed