Australopithecus sediba was discovered at Malapa Cave in South Africa. Credit: Natural History Museum London/SPL

I reach the Cradle of Humankind after half an hour's drive from Johannesburg, through the Gauteng Highveld of South Africa. This open, grassy space scattered with trees is a World Heritage Site, riddled with limestone caves and hominin fossils. A substantial chunk of the evidence that Africa is the wellspring of humanity was discovered here; and with anthropologist Lee Berger of the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg set to unearth more at the Malapa and Rising Star Cave sites, the Cradle still rocks.

As a heritage site in a developing country, the area is a focus for national pride. But developments there are spurring questions over which part of the nation they serve.

Palaeontologists will rejoice over the launch, on 21 July, of a state-of-the-art vault to house star local finds, an adjunct to Wits's Centre of Excellence for Palaeosciences. The vault will allow specimens to be compared with other finds, both hominin and non-hominin, from around Africa. These include the Taung skull (Australopithecus africanus), dated to between 2 million and 3 million years ago, which was discovered north of Kimberley in 1924; specimens of Australopithecus sediba discovered at Malapa, including a remarkably complete skeleton called MH1, as well as casts of East African discoveries such as Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) and the type specimen of Homo habilis, found by anthropologists Mary and Louis Leakey. The vault's laboratory has a micro-CT scanner and 3D printing facilities. But it is strictly for researchers' use.

What is there for the public? The Maropeng visitor centre opened a decade ago as an interpretation centre for the Sterkfontein Caves, site of the discovery of the 'Mrs Ples' fossil (Australopithecus africanus) in 1947 and, 50 years later, Little Foot, the most complete early-hominin skeleton known, which is as-yet undescribed. And late last year, a light, moveable, steel structure known as the Beetle was placed over the Malapa site to let the paying public view excavations, once they resume at the site. (Digging has been on hold since 2009, when the remains of four A. sediba individuals were removed.)

The Beetle protects the delicate limestone system from rain, and lets wild animals move freely below. Standing on eight clavicle-like supports, it has a fabric roof that collects rainwater and channels it to a sanitation system. Visitors will watch excavations from a raised circular walkway. A pulley below the platform is attached to a hoist capable of bearing a tonne of rock.

But there are questions over how 'public' the Beetle actually is. Costing half a million US dollars — paid for largely through the National Research Foundation (using taxpayers' money), as well as Wits and the Gauteng provincial government — the site is in a private game reserve and the tourists, when they come, will probably be rich. The Maropeng centre demonstrates this. Built at a cost of US$29 million, it charges $13 for admission (around half that for students), which prices out many in a country where one-fifth of the people still live on $28 a month. That could be reflected in Maropeng's visitor numbers. Planned to accommodate 1 million visitors a year, it receives between 230,000 and 250,000 and runs at an annual loss, picked up by the provincial government. Kruger National Park, by contrast, charges different rates for South Africans and foreign tourists, and receives 1.4 million visitors annually.

Remarkable fossils continue to emerge in the Cradle, and it presents no less remarkable opportunities for palaeotourism. But a way must be found to make the specimens widely accessible. In situ interpretation of australopithecine remains should present a uniquely uplifting experience for all, rich and poor.