DCAS invests in Metro and West Coast Museums

On 25 May 2017, Mr Guy Redman, Chief Director for Cultural Affairs at the Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) handed over the annual subsidies and grants to Heritage Western Cape (HWC) and the following affiliated province-aided and local museums:

• Hout Bay Museum;
• Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum;
• SA Sendinggestig Museum;
• Simon's Town Museum;
• Wheat Industry Museum; and
• SA Fisheries Museum.

Mr Mxolisi Dlamuka, CEO for HWC, welcomed all the representatives and said DCAS is dedicated to transforming museums to be more accessible, especially to the youth. The department is the primary funder of the majority of province-aided museums in the province, which depend on these funds to keep their doors open to the public.

HWC was established in 2003 as the provincial heritage resources authority and is a public entity of DCAS. It is their responsibility to identify, protect and conserve the landscapes, sites, artefacts, buildings and structures that are of significance to the people of the Western Cape. These tangible and intangible resources include monuments, places of worship, historical sites, sacred sites, oral traditions, indigenous knowledge systems, structures associated with slavery, palaeontological artefacts and archaeological artefacts and sites.

Mr Redman delivered a message on behalf of Minister Anroux Marais and commended the museum staff who are passionately preserving and promoting our rich heritage across the province.

DCAS invests in the cultural heritage of the province and encourages communities to share in the valuable material at our museums and heritage institutions – Better Together.