As noted above, the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) controls and administers all heritage resources in the country, with each of the country’s nine provinces having a Heritage Resources Agency to administer and govern the protection of heritages. It is stated that “SAHRA is a statutory organisation established under the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999, as the national administrative body responsible for the protection of South Africa’s cultural heritage” (SAHRA, 2016b). The definition of a heritage asset in South Africa has shifted over the past 20 years. In the White Paper of 1996 on Arts,
Culture and Heritage, heritage was defined as “the sum total of wildlife and scenic parks, sites of scientific and historical importance, national monuments, historic buildings, works of art, literature and music, oral traditions and museum collections and their documentation which provides the basis for a shared culture and creativity in the arts” (RSA, 1996b, RSA, 2013). SAHRA has developed the South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS), which documents and characterises each and every ‘declared’ heritage object or
‘site’ in South Africa (Smuts et al., 2016). To be classified as a heritage site, all sites are firstly
‘graded’ and then ‘declared’ according to the following criteria: (1) sites are first ‘graded’, after being identified or suggested as a heritage site; (2) sites are then ‘declared’ as a provincial or national heritage site” (SAHRA, 2015a). The Grading and Declarations unit of SAHRA assists with the identification, assessment and conservation management planning of sites proposed for gazetting as National Heritage Sites, in terms of Sections 3, 7, 9 and 27 of the NHRA (Act 25 of 1999).
SAHRA or any member of the public is eligible to identify places to be declared national heritage sites that are ‘deemed to have qualities so exceptional that they are of special national significance’. This process includes consultation and public participation, and culminates in the publishing of the National Heritage Status of the site in the Government Gazette. These sites will be marked with a badge/plaque on a building, on site.
Old plaque (made of bronze) to show a monument in RSA – the Kimberley Club, Kimberley, Northern Cape
New plaque to show a heritage site in RSA – KanonKlip, a house in Parktown, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Figure 3.1: Heritage Plaques in South Africa (Source: Author’s own photographs).
Figure 3.1 shows the old and the new heritage plaques used in South Africa to depict that a site has been declared either as a provincial or a national heritage site (Jackson, 2016). There are two processes involved in the declaration of a site as a National Heritage Site (NHS), namely grading and declaration. Both are thorough and somewhat lengthy processes, ensuring that proper research is conducted about the site’s significance, management and sustainability (SAHRA, 2015b). The first step is the actual grading of a site. This is the identification of a site with significant heritage value. The NHRA differentiates between 3-tiers of grading (SAHRA, 2015a). First is grade 1 which are resources with qualities so exceptional that they are of special national significance – administered by SAHRA; second is Grade 2, which are resources significant within the context of a province – administered by the relevant Provincial Heritage Authority (PHRA); and, third is Grade 3, which is resources significant to a particular community – administered by the relevant local municipality (SAHRA, 2015a).
Although grading is not a formal protection, it allows each authority to research the potential and significance of a site with the view to formally declaring it as a National, Provincial or Local Heritage Site. SAHRA’s Grading and Declarations Review Committee carefully consider all nominations received by SAHRA; should the site have Grade 1 significance, the nomination is forwarded to the SAHRA Council for approval, which then makes a decision. Should the site be deemed to have Grade 2 or 3 significance, the nomination is then referred to the relevant Provincial Heritage Resources Authority (PHRA) or the relevant Local Authority (SAHRA, 2015a).
The second step is the declaration of a heritage site. This represents the formal recognition of the site’s heritage and culturally significant status and requires that extensive public participation and planning for the management of the site must be undertaken. Once SAHRA’s Council has approved the declaration, a notice of the decision is published in the Government Gazette. The site is then declared and protected. As community and public participation is important in the management of heritage, the legislation has a powerful component in which communities and interested and affected parties must be consulted before a site can be declared, including obtaining the owner’s consent and representation.
All parties are given at least 60 days to respond and make submissions regarding the
proposed declaration, amendment or withdrawal. Once the site has been formally declared, no person may, without a permit from the relevant authority:
Destroy, damage, deface, excavate or alter the site;
Remove from it any items or objects, its original position; and/or
Subdivide or change the planning status of the site (SAHRA, 2015a).
The NHRA goes on to “introduce an integrated and interactive system for the management of the national heritage resources (SAHRIS); to promote good government at all levels, and empower civil society to nurture and conserve their heritage resources so that they may be bequeathed to future generations; to lay down general principles for governing heritage resources management throughout the Republic; to introduce an integrated system for the identification, assessment and management of the heritage resources of South Africa; to establish the South African Heritage Resources Agency together with its Council to co-ordinate and promote the management of heritage resources at national level; to set norms and maintain essential national standards for the management of heritage resources in the Republic and to protect heritage resources of national significance; to control the export of nationally significant heritage objects and the import into the Republic of cultural property illegally exported from foreign countries; to enable the provinces to establish heritage authorities which must adopt powers to protect and manage certain categories of heritage resources; to provide for the protection and management of conservation-worthy places and areas by local authorities; and, to provide for matters connected therewith” (RSA, 1999b).
The Heritage Resources Management Unit (HRMU) of SAHRA is responsible for the identification, assessment and management of all heritage resources in South Africa (as outlined in the NHRA, 25, 1999). The HRM aims to reflect and maintain the diverse cultural heritage of South African, multicultural society. “Through multi-stakeholder processes, the Unit ensures that heritage awareness is raised amongst the stakeholders and, particularly, also amongst the public and communities through awareness activities. These activities are held to engage stakeholders, create awareness and educate South Africans on the role of SAHRA in protecting and preserving the heritage, and to position SAHRA as a leader in
heritage management” (SAHRA, 2016a). Table 3.2 outlines the 15 categories of Heritage Assets as recognised in South Africa.
Table 3.2: Types of Heritage in South Africa
Type of Heritage Brief definition
Archaeological Any material remains from human activity (in a state of disuse), in or on land that is older than 100 years, including artefacts, human and hominid remains and artificial features and structures.
Battlefield(s) The site(s) where a significant battle took place, marked and recorded in history, which battlefield, cultural or heritage tourists would visit.
Buildings Any physical structure older than 60 years in age.
Burial Grounds & Graves Places of interment, including the contents, headstone or other marker of such a place, and/or structures on or associated with such a place.
Cultural significance (Landscape) A place of aesthetic, architectural, historical, scientific, social, spiritual, linguistic, or technological value or significance.
Heritage Objects/sites Any movable property of cultural significance, which may be protected, such as: any archaeological artefact;
paleontological or rare geological specimens; meteorites or any other artefact of heritage or cultural significance.
Heritage Resources Any artefacts or place of historical, cultural or heritage significance.
Living Heritage Any intangible aspects of inherited culture – including:
cultural tradition(s); oral history; performance; ritual(s);
popular memory; skills and techniques; indigenous knowledge systems (IKS); and, the holistic approach to nature, society and social relationships.
Meteorite Any naturally occurring object of extra-terrestrial origin.
Paleontological Any fossilised remains or fossil trace of animals or plants, which lived in the geological past, other than fossil fuels or fossiliferous rock intended for industrial uses, and any sites, which includes such fossilised remains or trace.
Place Any site, area, region, a building or other structure, which may include equipment, furniture, fittings and articles associated or connected with heritage and culture. A group of buildings associated with heritage and culture; an open space, including a public square, street or park. This includes the management of a place and the immediate surroundings of that place.
Public monuments and memorials
All monuments and memorials – erected on land belonging to any branch of government; or an organisation funded by any branch of government; or which were paid for by public subscription, government funds, public-spirited or military organisation; or land belonging to any private individual.
Rock Art Any form of painting, engraving or other graphic representation on a fixed rock surface or loose rock or stone, including any area within 10 metres of such a representation.
Structure Any bridge, building, works, device, or other facility made by people and is fixed to land, including any fixtures, fittings and equipment associated with heritage and culture.
Wrecks Any vessel or aircraft (or any part thereof) which was wrecked in South Africa, whether on land, in the internal waters, the territorial waters or maritime culture zone of South Africa, which is older than 60 years or which SAHRA deems worthy of conservation; feature, structures and artefacts associated with military history which are older than 75 years; and, the sites on which they are found.
(Source: Adapted from the NHRA – RSA, 1999b)
Various types of heritage are categorised by the NHRA. Essentially there are 15 broad categories of what constitutes ‘heritage’ in South Africa. A categorisation and description of these 15 different forms of defined heritage in South Africa is provided in Table 3.2. These different categories of defined heritage are used in the analysis presented in the next section, of South Africa’s heritage assets as a whole and its geographical distribution.