Hidden rebellion above Munro’s

Behind the large store windows of Munro's antique and collectables shop, in Lower Main Road, lie many interesting and unique keepsakes and treasures.

And while many of the old-time items they sell are sure to conjure up memories of the past, it is hard to believe that above the cluttered store, in the attic-like upstairs, Observatory's spirit of activism and rebellion made its home.

In the early 80's the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) had their headquarters in the upstairs of the Munro's building. NUSAS was a student driven organisation opposing the Apartheid regime became increasingly vocal in its critique of racial discrimination.

It was at Munro's where the organisation met and printed propaganda pamphlets opposing the Apartheid government.

Owner of Munro's, who asked not to be named, said: "Our police used to ride around in a vehicle called a Casspir. One of the signs printed was, 'The Casspir is not always a friendly ghost'."

"The Casspir used to patrol the townships and the police was quite hectic."

He said that his father had rented the downstairs area of the building at the time, with the NUSAS headquarters upstairs.

"It was bricked up so you couldn't get to the upstairs... you'd just hear the gate going close and open. They moved out around 1985."

When he eventually did have access to the upstairs area, he found an array of flyers and documentation of who was funding the organisation.

"There was a couple of documentaries done over the years. A very famous guy was arrested by the police upstairs. He went to Robben Island and the police came to arrest him here," he said.

Paddy Chapple, local ward councillor for Observatory, started his political career as a member of NUSAS. "Mr Munro was very generous with a very low rent and in the face of fierce opposition from the Security branch [and] had to be extremely aware of surveillance," Paddy said.

The fact that Obs was home to such a radical group of activists should come as no surprise as the neighbourhood has always had a history of activism.

"[Observatory] was always a mix. We had the first gays, the first lesbians, and we always had a mixed area," Munro's owner said.