By Yasmin Mayat & Brendan Hart – from Mayat Hart Architects and Heritage Consultants
The 2022 Cape Town Parliamentary fire that shocked everyone in South Africa was an important reminder of the need to maintain and protect public and institutional buildings. Beyond the very high cost of reconstruction and repair and the inconvenience and disruptions caused, a more important consideration is often missed. Many public and government buildings are important heritage resources. They represent the collective heritage and complex history of all South Africans. They are an important part of our collective identity. Once lost, whether it is from a catastrophic fire or simply through decay and neglect, they cannot be replaced. Although much written about the fire or the decay of public buildings is despairing, tragedies can also be seen as an opportunity to reassess what is of importance to the public and South Africans in general.
Beyond wildlife and natural beauty, the rich heritage of South Africa, its people, culture and architecture has made the country a tourist hot spot with cities such as Cape Town being amongst the most visited in the world. This international recognition of our history and heritage and the countries numerous World Heritage sites shows the largely untapped potential that heritage has to become a driver for tourism and economic growth.
We are not powerless in helping to release this potential. All buildings and heritage sites in South Africa are protected under the countries heritage law, the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25, 1999) (NHRA). The NHRA introduces and defines the important idea of the “National Estate”. The Act places anything that has heritage value as being part of the “National Estate”, which belongs to the nation as a whole. What this effectively means is that heritage value is collectively owned by all the people of South Africa, and if we own it (and value it) we need to take actions to protect it.
There are many things that we can do. Firstly we can change how we look at heritage when it comes to buildings. Yes, we (as owners or as citizens) have a legal responsibility to protect and care for heritage buildings. Beyond this we can also start to look at heritage value as an asset, something that adds meaning and value rather than simply being a bureaucratic obstacle. It can be used as a way to meaningfully direct spending and budget allocations to protect what already exists. Heritage buildings also represent an opportunity for sustainable growth and development – as the often quoted saying goes, the greenest building is one that already exists. Creatively reused heritage buildings can be given new meaning and purpose, rich in meaning and history.
Outside of care and ownership there are many opportunities for advocacy, interest and personal growth. You can join one of the many active heritage organisations in South Africa that are already working to protect our heritage. Organisations such as Docomomo (the international committee for the Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement), which has an active local chapter, documents and records important modernist heritage buildings throughout the world and advocates for their protection and sensitive reuse encourages the appreciation of our own architectural heritage. Locally different cites have active heritage organisations and conservation bodies (and even residents associations) that care for and document heritage architecture in their specific areas. Examples include the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation ,which documents and surveys heritage buildings, gives public tours and comments on development applications throughout the city. Alternatively many voluntary professional bodies have heritage committees eagerly looking for volunteers (including GIFA, SAIA, CIFA, KZNIA etc). Alternatively petition and hold accountable your local council and Provincial Heritage Resources Authority to make them aware of their legal responsibilities.
If you value something speak up and take action to protect it. Tourists from other parts of the world have already seen that we have something special and it is time that we do to. Don’t let the only time that we speak about heritage be when the next important building burns down or falls apart. Collectively we can change the mind set of what heritage architecture is as well as what it can be.
