DCAS Contributes to Transformation of Heritage Landscape

On Tuesday, 30 June 2015, Anroux Marais, Western Cape (WC) Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, convened a Provincial Consultative Meeting on the Transformation of the Heritage Landscape. A wide range of heritage stakeholders, including representatives of all spheres of government, attended the event in Cape Town.

The meeting was a follow-up to the National Consultative Meeting on the Transformation of the Heritage Landscape in April to discuss vandalism, defacement and destruction of memorials, public monuments and statues. The national Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) appointed a task team to take the recommendations of the national meeting forward.

The Western Cape meeting was organised by the WC Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport (DCAS) and Heritage Western Cape (HWC). Similar consultative meetings are been held in all provinces.

In her keynote address, Marais said the transformation of the heritage landscape requires, among other things, a more representative reflection of the collective heritage of all South Africans.

DAC task team member Luli Callinicos expressed her appreciation for the collective wisdom and ubuntu that had been present in the room. “Essentially what has been said is that our heritage landscape must be inclusive, holistic, integrated and balanced.” She said that the telling of our history does not go deep enough in that it reflects the voices of the very first people in South Africa. “We need to hear all the voices.”

Hannetjie du Preez of DCAS said that the contributions of presenters and participants highlighted the need to continue to expand the transformation of the heritage landscape in the Western Cape and in South Africa.

DAC Task Team members agreed that the willingness of participants to negotiate and solve problems they had seen in the Western Cape would make a valuable contribution to the transformation of the heritage landscape.