The story of Munsieville began on 15 December 1905, when it was gazetted that the piece of land to the north-west of Krugersdorp near District Township was to be used as a 'native location'.

It was, however, only in 1911 that the New Donation (as it was then called) was officially established by the Municipal Council, and all blacks not living on their employers' premises had to be resident there.

In 1934, standpipes (taps at the corners of the street from which residents could draw their water) and central wash houses were in use in the area.

At a monthly council meeting in 1941, it was unanimously agreed to change the township's name to Munsieville, after the chief sanitary inspector at the time, James Munsie.

[According to the Krugersdorp Herald and residents the modern facilities consist of one mobile toilet for two households and six water taps.]

Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Desmond Mpilo Tutu lived in Munsieville from an early age.

His father was headmaster of St Paul's Anglican Mission School where young Mpilo began his education.

Munsieville was reprieved only by the intervention of Leon Wessels, the Nationalist MP for Krugersdorp, who later apologised handsomely for apartheid.