Draft National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization

DRAFT NATIONAL POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR HERITAGE MEMORIALIZATION

APRIL 2025

Version 1

TABLE OF CONTENT

 

1	FOREWORD AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY	3
1.1	Foreword	3
1.2	Executive Summary	4
2	DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS	5
2.1	Definitions	5
2.2	Abbreviations	8
3	INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND	10
3.1	Introduction (Policy Issue Identification)	10
3.2	National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization: Background	10
3.3	National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization: Context and Environment	18
4	VISION AND PRINCIPLES	20
4.1	Vision	20
4.2	Values and Principles	20
5	POLICY STRATEGIC LINKAGES AND THEIR RELEVANCE	23
6	EVIDENCE BASED PROBLEM STATEMENT	24
6.1	Problem Statement	24
7	IMPACT OF PREVIOUS NLPS	25
8	POLICY OBJECTIVES, EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES	25
8.1	Policy Aims	25
8.2	Policy Priorities	26
8.3	Objectives and Expected Outcomes	26
9	FOCUS AREAS	27
9.1	Policy Focus Area 1 –Alternative Forms of Memorialization Initiatives	27
9.2	Policy Focus Area 2 – Museums and Sites	27
9.3	Policy Focus Area 3 – Monuments, Statues and Memorials	28
9.4	Policy Focus Area 4 – Intangible Cultural Heritage/Living Heritage	28
9.5	Policy Focus Area 5 – Geographical Names	29
9.6	Policy Focus Area 6 – National Symbols	29
9.7	Policy Focus Area 7 – Library and Information Services	29
9.8	Policy Focus Area 8 – National Archives Services	30
9.9	Policy Focus Area 9 – Repatriation and Restitution	31
10	IMPLEMENTATION	31
10.1	Target Beneficiaries and Stakeholders	32
10.2	Target Beneficiaries – Key Factors	32
10.3	Resource Allocation	33
10.4	Roles and Responsibilities	34
10.5	Communication	35
10.6	Marketing and Audience Development	35
10.7	Governance	35
10.8	Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategy	36
11	POLICY MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REVIEW	37
11.1	Policy Implementation Indicators	37
11.2	Monitoring Processes	37
11.3	Heritage Legacy Programme Minimum Standards Sector Guidelines Monitoring Processes	37
11.4	Evaluation of the Policy	37
11.5	Policy Review Schedule	38
12	CONCLUSION	38
13	REFERENCES	39

 

 

 

 

 

1. FOREWORD AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

1. 1. Foreword

 

1. 2. Executive Summary

 

1. DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

 

1. 1. Definitions

 

Apartheid: A policy that governed relations between South Africa’s white minority and non-white majority for much of the latter half of the 20th century, sanctioning racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against non-whites.

Community involvement: Meaningful, consistent participation when developing policy; communities are stakeholder in the establishment of National Legacy Projects.

Interested and affected party: Any person, organization, department, family, or individual who has timely registered their interest in a project.

 

Intangible Cultural Heritage: In terms of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, “intangible cultural heritage” means the practices, representations, expression, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.

Legacy: The long-lasting impact of events and actions, etc.  A situation that has developed because of past and present actions and decisions.

Living Heritage: refers to Intangible Cultural Heritage as defined above, with more emphasis on dynamism of culture and association of this heritage with both cultural continuity and social meaning.

Memorials and Monuments: have been defined as objects and structures placed to commemorate and memorialize a past event, development, cultural phase, person or social grouping within the history of South Africa, the region or the locality. Memorials may be statues, sculptures, plaques, friezes, or gravestones, and include associated landscaping features, pedestals, plinths, podiums, or inscriptions. The emphasises on memorialization of the past and excludes public sculptures, which do not have a social, political, or historical dimension.

Memorialization: The process of preserving the memory or legacy of an individual, group, movement or event.

Non-governmental organisation: A non-profit organisation that operates independently of any government, typically one whose purpose is to address a social or political issue.

Nation Building: The process by which a society with diverse origins, histories, languages, cultures, and religions come together within the boundaries of a sovereign state with a unified constitutional and legal system, a national public education system, and an integrated national economy, shared symbols and values, and act as equals to work towards eradicating the differences and injustices of the past to promote unity and a nationwide conscious sense of being proudly one nation.

National Legacy Projects:  Public-interest projects that seek to commemorate South Africa's neglected history and heritage and to correct the imbalance created by the dominant political ideologies of colonialism, imperialism, and apartheid prior to the emergence of the democratic South Africa in 1994. NLP can take many forms, including events, renaming important objects and places, building commemorative structures, or any other project that contributes to nation building and the creation of a long-term legacy. These projects could be of national, provincial, or local significance. In another definition Legacy projects refers to monuments, museums, plaques, outdoor art, heritage trails and other symbolic representations that create visible reminders of, and commemorate, the many aspects of South Africa’s past.

National Identity: A sense of instilling national consciousness and pride of who we are as a South African nation guided by the shared culture, traditions, values and future aspirations.

Organ of State: Government department of state or administration in the national, provincial, or local spheres of government, as well as any other functionary or institution exercising a power or performing a duty under the Constitution or a provincial constitution or exercising a public power or performing a public duty under any legislation but does not include a court or a judicial officer.

Policy: An organization's stated stance on internal or external issues. It serves as the written foundation for an organization's operations and serves as the basis for legislation, regulations, and the governing document.

Project: A combination of set objectives to be accomplished within a fixed period.

Public participation: Involving the public directly in decision-making and fully considers their feedback when developing the policy.

Public Participation Process (PPP): Structured process of community and stakeholder engagement throughout the lifecycle of an NLP.

Settler colonialism: In a South African context should be understood to refer to the legacy of those who left Europe and who came down South of the African continent and settle. As a result, they are quite a number of monuments and memorials affirming the character of settlers and representation in South Africa’s heritage landscape.

Social Cohesion the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture defines Social Cohesion as the degree of social integration and inclusion in communities and society at large, and the extent to which mutual solidarity finds expression itself amongst individuals and communities. A community or society is cohesive to the extent that the inequalities, exclusions, and disparities based on ethnicity, gender, class, nationality, age, disability, or any other distinctions which engender divisions, distrust and conflict are reduced and/or eliminated in a planned and sustained manner.

Social Justice refers to a fair and equitable division of resources, opportunities, and privileges in society.

1. 2. Abbreviations

 

BASA:              Business and Arts South Africa

CATHSSETA:   Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, Sports Sector Education Training Authority

CIMP:               Creative Industries Master Plan

COGTA:           Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

DACST             Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology

DALRRD:         Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

DF:                   Department of Finance

DFFE:              Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

DHS:                Department of Human Settlements

DIRCO:            Department of International Relations and Cooperation

DoT:                 Department of Tourism

DPME:             Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

DPWI:              Department of Public Works and Infrastructure

DSAC:              Department of Sport, Arts and Culture

DSBD:              Department of Small Business Development

DSI:                  Department of Science and Innovation

DTIC:               Department of Trade, Industry and Competition

DWYPD:           Department of Women Youth and Persons with Disabilities

GCIS:               Government Communication and Information System

GEAR:             Growth, Employment and Redistribution

IKS:                 Indigenous Knowledge Systems

MTEF:              Medium Term Expenditure Framework

NARSSA:         National Archives and Records Service of South Africa

NDP:                National Development Plan

NGO:               Non-governmental organization

NHC:                National Heritage Council

NLP:                National Legacy Project

NMC:                National Monuments Council

NPO:                Non-Profit Organisation

PFMA:              Public Finance Management Act

PPPs:               Public-Private Partnerships

RDP:                Reconstruction and Development Plan

SACO:             South African Cultural Observatory

SADC:              Southern Africa Development Community

SAHRA:           South African Heritage Resources Agency

SALGA:           South African Local Government Association

SANRAL:         The South African National Roads Agency Limited

UNESCO:         United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

3. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

3.1. Introduction (Policy issue identification)

 

There is an outdated discussion/concept document for the implementation of legacy projects, but no formal official policy on legacy projects.

 

The National Legacy Project (NLP), in the main, focusses narrowly on large scale heritage infrastructure development. This approach has no and/or does not clearly express clear linkages, integration and alignment with other forms of legacy and memorialization work being done.

 

This approach does not sufficiently and realistically consider the potential socio-economic impact of these projects, their affordability, sustainability, the lifespan of the National Legacy Project and the potential impact of changes in the environment.

The narrow focus also precludes a clear, integrated, coherent and systematic articulation of the effectiveness of all legacy and memorialization work being done, in contributing to social cohesion, nation building, socio-economic development, and other national outcomes aligned with the Government Wide-Monitoring and Evaluation System and National Evaluation Policy Framework.

A national policy is therefore required to assist the Department, together with its various partners and stakeholders, to better articulate the linkages, integration, and alignment with other forms of legacy and memorialization work being done.  The policy should refocus efforts and improve the implementation of the original legacy project concept framework but also broaden this framework to better articulate its impact and the response to what the National Development Plan (NDP) calls for.

3.2. National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization: Background

With the demise of the apartheid government and the usher in of the new political dispensation in 1994, the country went on a quest for a new South African national identity. The new government of national unity introduced the metaphor of a Rainbow Nation, in which all citizens are united in their diversity as South Africans. The vision for a non-racial South African nation (in which all races and cultures are equal) was enshrined in the Freedom Charter of 1955. Symbols such as the Rainbow Nation and new national flag have been hailed worldwide as representative of optimism that the new political dispensation would bring reconciliation and unity in the diverse South African society (Bornman, 2005).

It has also been observed, within the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), that the decision to choose a restorative justice route to deal with the gross human rights violations in South Africa rather than a retributive justice route, was based on a number of factors including history, politics, social structure, and power (Auger S, 2007). Judge Mohamed was cited as saying that it was the hope of the TRC that:

In the process, families of victims and the survivors would be better enabled to discover the truth; perpetrators would also have the opportunity of relieving themselves of a burden of guilt or anxiety with which they might have been living for many years. Further that, in the process, the country would begin the process of healing the wounds of the past, transforming anger and grief into an understanding and thereby creating the climate essential for reconciliation and reconstruction (Sarkin-Hughes, 371).

In a similar vein, monuments, museums, and memorials represent a growing consciousness of a nation, which seeks to present its history with representations of its struggles, victories, and changes in its transition from past to present. This is achieved by placing the spotlight on events, persons, and issues attempting to respond to national questions of identity, memory, matrix of power and nation building, among others.

It can, however, easily manifest itself as symbols of consolidation, and hegemony. For instance, the most famous commemoration of the settler ‘victory’ over the Africans (Battle of Blood River) is the Voortrekker Monument, which is located south of Pretoria, in South Africa. The monument is a massive granite structure prominently located on a hilltop and built to commemorate the centenary of the Great Trek in 1938.  The Afrikaner nationalists used the two themes of the wars (the defeat of the Zulu, and the Great Trek) to mobilize political support for Afrikaner Nationalism.

However, it is also worth mentioning that like many other traditional South African monuments, the symbolism of the Voortrekker Monuments changes with the introduction of new regime (Gruntlingh, 2001). For instance, in March 2002, the late former President Nelson Mandela unveiled a monument on this site to Anglo-Boer War Scout, Danie Theron, and surprised everyone by using the same monument to preach a message of tolerance and inclusivity.

The Rainbow Nation metaphor projects the image of different racial, ethnic, and cultural groups being united and living together in harmony. However, there are deep seated political, economic, and socio-cultural issues that have been glossed over by the euphoria arising from the demise of the oppressive system, and the prospects of achieving our ideal of a socially cohesive society and new South African nationhood, almost thirty (30) years after our democracy. It is only by acknowledging and understanding the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and apartheid, and how they have impacted people on an individual level and at the level of the nation, that we can begin to hope for a socially cohesive society and a common national identity or a new South African nationhood. A nationhood which is proud of not only its worldwide hailed Constitution, but other national symbols such as the South African Flag, National Anthem, Coat of Arms, National Orders, and National Animals. 

Within the South African population, there are still right-wing Afrikaner conservatives who are nostalgic about the oppressive past (and do not support our new national symbols), and due to their financial muscles, can buy huge tracts of land to establish exclusive and strictly Afrikaner enclaves with own municipal services, schools, hospitals, etc. – for example, Orania, an exclusive Afrikaner township in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. This typifies the problems identified with multi-cultural societies that often encounter difficulties in effecting a widely held sense of citizenship, that is loyal to the state and the willingness to comply with the rules of citizenship (Bornman, 2005).

In some part of the country newly built memorials, statues, and monuments that commemorate the lives and contributions of the liberation struggle heroes, heroines and stalwarts, have been vandalized, or defaced, i.e., the vandalization of the life size statue of Nokthula Simelane, and the defacing of the 3-metre statue of Oom Gert Sibande in Bethal, Mpumalanga province. How then do we implement and achieve the government’s programme of transforming the heritage landscape and balance the skewed preservation, promotion and management of the national estate?

Reconciliation and commemoration of important National Days/events celebrating our historical achievements and political leaders, have been elusive.  In most instances, these events are attended by majority of Black South Africans and the rest of the other race groups go about their businesses. They do not share a common government’s vision of building a truly non-racial and socially cohesive nation. It is no wonder therefore, that incidents like these may have given rise to the 2015 social media outbreak of racial bigotry and prejudicial commentary. These prejudicial remarks occurred concurrently with ongoing calls for decolonizing South African universities and the rise of radical student movements such as "Rhodes Must Fall" and "Fees Must Fall" (Nyoka B, 2016). The current debate around the Steyn Statue at the University of Free State has gained national attention and sparked debate around the existence of contentious monuments and statues that are viewed differently by various interest groups. It has of recent times become critical to address the matters of the relocating statues deemed irrelevant by interest groups, and re-interpretation of a number of statues to be more reflective of a universally democratizing South Africa. 

In his article titled: Apartheid symbols can unite and heal, Mokgethi, (2015) acknowledged that heritage has the power to unite and afford us an opportunity to heal and redress past imbalances, and that in this way, it plays a centripetal role by fostering social cohesion and maintaining social order. However, Mokgethi continues, if not carefully contextualized and managed, heritage may assume a centrifugal posture in which social disorder, racial tensions and divisions become the order of the day. (The Star: Early Edition, 27 April 2015).

Despite Government’s interventions to improve the lives of all South Africans, the triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment, persists due to unfavourable economic conditions, as informed by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the subsequent lockdowns, amongst others, which rendered most people jobless. Bearing this in mind, it is not unthinkable to suggest that cultural heritage is perhaps the most vulnerable of all state assets or national estate to social unrest or anarchy because it is precious, priceless, and cannot be replaced.

More-so as the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) does not have the guidelines or policies to guide the removal, relocation and management of statues and monuments. Similarly, the DSAC has not developed the guidelines or policies to guide the conceptualization; development of business cases; identification of partners and stakeholders; resourcing (both capital and human); criteria for selection of the NLPs; justification for the types of memorialization; implementation; monitoring and evaluation, as well as project completion and hand-over. Moreover, operationalization post-completion; management; maintenance and up-keep of both new and existing NLPs remains a huge challenge to this day.

The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture is conscious of these challenges and of a need to find a balance between representation of the past and present in a manner which seeks to re-position museums, monuments and memorials as change agents during the course of our history. The importance of such an exercise is to not make expressions of our national heritage and history become mere representations but facilitate debates and discussions about the differing experiences which comprise this history.

The debates, though, need to be grounded and shaped by the African indigenous knowledge systems. Notwithstanding that South Africa as a former settler colony, the legacy projects conceptualized in a democratic South Africa should shy away from western epistemology regarding monuments and other forms of memorials. The Policy calls for epistemic freedom in so far as the legacy projects are concerned. That is the freedom to conceptualize and develop legacy projects rooted in African forms of knowing, analysing, and interpreting the universe.

The Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture (DSAC), which is responsible for heritage transformation, recognized the need for a systematic and structured approach to NLPs. During the policy formulation process, the DSAC conducted a critical review of NLPs with the intent of learning from existing approaches, processes, achievements, and challenges. The purpose of heritage transformation, in accordance with the Constitution and its democratic principles, is to redress past inequities by integrating previously marginalized heritage. These disparities came as a result of the racial exclusions imposed on Black South Africans over three centuries by colonial and apartheid regimes. The emergence of post-1994 'inclusive heritage' was prioritized as a rallying force for social cohesion, shared national identity, and national healing. Heritage transformation is recognized as a critical tool for unlocking key economic potential in accordance with the National Development Plan's objectives.

Shortly after the inauguration of President Mandela on 27 April 1994, the then Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST) and the Office of the President were inundated with requests from diverse sources for official approval for the erection of monuments, museums, statues, commemorations of great leaders and historic events. Almost all the requests came from communities, leaders and individuals whose heritage was neglected during the previous political dispensation. Notably, the requests came from women, sections of the Black community and other non-racial progressive organizations in South Africa.

These requests came from widely diverse sources and were prompted by a range of different motivations. Some of the requests that were presented had the potential to publicly arouse critical and controversial debates on the subject, form, style and aesthetic of the proposed commemorative structures. DACST realized that a coherent policy framework was necessary that would articulate an overall vision and purpose for these requests that would substantially contribute to reconciliation and nation building.

Clearly, the variety of requests with their overlaps, different representations and multiple perspectives of our heritage called for a coherent set of principles and criteria to harmonize these many initiatives. These criteria, inter-alia, include: affirming cultural diversity, redress of past imbalances in the approval of requests, linking heritage with Reconstruction and Development Plan (RDP) and the five-year Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) plan, ownership through public consultation, organizational and financial aspects of the Legacy Project. A need for a holistic approach to these diverse initiatives was prioritized by DACST as an urgent challenge.

To achieve the above, DACST adopted a triad approach in the conceptualization of the Legacy Project. The National Legacy Committee is the first tier of decision making in relation to the Legacy Project. The Legacy Committee is a national interdepartmental umbrella of the Legacy Project chaired by the Director-General of DACST. The national Departments of Education, Public Works, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Constitutional Development; Office of the President, National Archives of South Africa and the newly formed South African Heritage Resources Agency were all key stakeholders who were represented.

The Legacy Project Steering Committee is the second tier of the Legacy Project. The Steering Committee meets to report on progress and problems in the various approved projects, and to discuss strategy on the way forward. Each approved project had a Steering Committee that is constituted by various stakeholders relevant to each project. The secretariat aspect of each project is the responsibility of a special Sub-directorate within DACST, which undertakes the administrative tasks for each project.

The above adopted by the South African Cabinet in 1997, served as a framework for the identification and implementation of legacy projects, but was never codified into an approved National Legacy Project Policy. It was clear that the new South African government had to redress imbalance of the heritage landscape. The character and nature of this transformation provoked questions about colonial and apartheid statues, along with other’s heritage resources that embodied racial exclusivity and white supremacy. All these were seen by the new government and the public as feeding threads of the system of apartheid.

Such symbols constituted a monumental complex mobilised around the concept of ‘erfenis’ (heritage) and produced monumental representations that fostered European identities and celebrated imperialist achievements. Because South Africa has diverse people, characterised by separate and discrete ethnicities, the transformation of the heritage landscape was placed on a path of achieving reconciliation as the basis for the new rainbow nation. Between 1997 and 2015, more than 20 colonial and post-apartheid monuments were contested, removed and/or defaced.

Rasool, (2000) observed that a framework for memorialization was needed, and that, in fact, it has begun to unfold which seeks to construct forms of observance, remembrance and commemoration, which would be a 'symbolic acknowledgement of our neglected, marginalized and distorted heritage'. New monuments have begun to emerge, new national museums have begun to take shape, and new national heritage trails were being planned. Additionally, the now defunct National Monuments Council (NMC) embarked on a new poster campaign, asking the public to help them 'identify sites that are important to the public and their families, friends, communities, neighbourhoods, towns and/or villages'.

Consequently, Cabinet constituted and formally adopted the National Legacy Projects (NLP) Program in 1997, entrusting it to the then-Department of Arts, Culture, Science, and Technology (DACST). A draft 'portfolio of legacy projects' was released for discussion by the 'National Legacy Committee', an inter-departmental committee tasked with the establishment of 'new and diverse' monuments, museums, and memorials. The Legacy Project had been set up 'to approve and facilitate the setting up of new monuments, museums ... plaques, outdoor artworks, history trails and other ‘symbolic representations' (Rassool, 2000).

Among the twenty legacy projects suggested were a 'History Trail' of slave  resistance in the Western Cape, Memorials to the Women of South Africa, a Monument to South Africa's Workers, a Cultural Mapping of War Graves and the embracing of the Centenary of the Anglo-Boer War, referred to in the discussion document as the '1899-1902 War', Memorials to Forced Removals, a Monument to the San, and Commemorations of Pre-colonial Heritage, the Creation of Missionary Trails, and Commemorations of Events, such as the Congress of the People - 1955, the Sharpville Massacre - 1960, Soweto Uprisings - 1976, deemed to be 'historical turning points'. Such diverse projects, it was felt, would 'acknowledge and celebrate South Africa's ‘multi-cultural heritage' (Portfolio of the NLPs, 1998). Aside from the NLP, the DSAC had already endorsed a significant number of post-1994 heritage projects through various government agencies such as local authorities. These initiatives were a part of the post-1994 heritage transformation programme.

The South African Cabinet also approved several Legacy Projects for short-term delivery and was kept abreast of all developments in the Legacy Project through Cabinet Memoranda that sought further Cabinet approval and input. The initial legacy projects approved and completed were:

• The Ncome Museum to commemorate the Zulu warriors at the battlefield of Blood River/Ncome near Dundee in KZN,
• The monument for the Women of South Africa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria,
• The inclusive commemoration of the Centenary of the Anglo-Boer (South African War),
• The Constitution Hill (the site of the Old Fort and the new Constitutional Court in Johannesburg),
• The development of the Nelson Mandela Museum Sites, commemorating Nelson Mandela’s home and his youth and his Presidency through the Museum at the Bunga Building in Mthatha, the Qunu Youth Centre and the Mveso Museum in the Eastern Cape,
• The memorial to former Mozambican President, Samora Machel, on the rural site where his plane crashed near the border town of Mbuzini,
• The Albert Luthuli project, focused on the restoration of his home and grave in Groutville,
• The development of Freedom Park in Pretoria
• The development of Liliesleaf in Rivonia
• The development of Steve Biko Centre in Ginsburg

The legacy projects approved and implemented later were:

• Statue of Nkosi Bambatha,
• The Khoe/San heritage route
• Statue of Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings
• Resistance and Liberation Heritage Route
• The Sarah Baartmann Centre of Remembrance in Hankey, housing her mortal remains repatriated from France
• The Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Museum in Winnie Mandela (formerly Brandfort) depicting the years of her banning
• Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, marking the Freedom Charter adoption
• The OR Tambo Garden of Remembrance at his birthplace in Nkantolo
• The Dr Langalibalele Dube gravesite and Ohlange Institute restoration and refurbishment in Inanda.
• The repatriation and reburial of the remains of Moses Kotane and JB Marks
• The repatriation and reburial of the remains of Trooi and Klaas Pienaar
• This included statues, graves and places named after struggle icons. The introduction of “legacy projects”, ensured all these sites became iconic fixture of the evolving post-apartheid heritage and cultural landscape.

To a very large extent, specific legacy projects are still being rolled out using the above framework of an interdepartmental legacy committee, legacy project steering committee and a project specific steering committee, and correctly so. However, the focus was, and still is, short term delivery driven by a small DSAC legacy team as the engine without meaningful integration of the work of other memorialization work done in the Department as a long-term process.

With a few exceptions the focus of the Legacy Projects implemented, especially in the initial years, was largely on large scale heritage infrastructure development, understandably so, to transform the heritage landscape. But once again without meaningful integration of other forms of memorialization and legacy work being done in the same department and its entities and considerations of long-term sustainability.

 

3.3.     National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization: Context and Environment

 

The context in which this policy is being developed is characterized by a deep yearning for a total liberation of all who were oppressed and racially discriminated. It is the yearning for a South Africa wherein memorialisation projects are conceptualized and developed to give meaning and a sense of belonging to the family of humanity.

 

The policy draft is being developed in the context of South Africa's Constitution. The Constitution requires that historical imbalances be corrected. The integrated approach taken by this draft policy brought together the NDP policy framework as well as policies on social cohesion and nation building. All of these policies revolve around the development agenda. They aim to improve the quality of life for all previously marginalized communities as well as all South Africans.

Following the DSAC's assessment of its organizational achievements and challenges, the Department's reflection implicitly acknowledged that the desired goal of promoting national identity through reconciliation, healing, social cohesion, community involvement in heritage site management, and economic upliftment had not yet been fully realized.

The newly implemented heritage projects promised change to previously marginalised communities because the transformation of the heritage landscape is directly linked to the consciousness of the people’s historical past and future aspirations. The future aspirations are best displayed in symbols that seek to affirm a new national identity.  These assurances raised expectations.

The communities surrounding the newly constructed legacy projects believed that the post-apartheid heritage sites would provide opportunities for employment in heritage-related economic activities such as cultural tourism, site guides, restaurants, transportation operations, crafts, and other economic activities.

This, however, is not the case; some of these sites never fulfilled these objectives. The reality is that regional and macro-scale tourism trends influence economic opportunities associated with heritage resources. New infrastructure does not always result in an influx of visitors. Tourism evolves over time and necessitates consistent value propositions.

Despite the existence of a broad heritage policy, legislative and institutional framework a mixed bag of results include: substantial achievement in the construction of community libraries; some progress in the construction of new museums, monuments and memorials; limited progress in the grading and declaration of previously marginalized heritage sites; moderate progress in the renaming of geographical features; substantial progress in the transformation of National Symbols including National Orders; a crisis in the protection and digitization of the nation’s archival record; very limited progress in the repatriation of human remains and heritage objects including books; and, very limited progress in safeguarding the country’s intangible cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge systems. Challenges remain in the operationalization of heritage and library infrastructure, popularizing National Symbols, etc.  

We still see the legacy project as a project being the responsibility of one directorate taking place somewhere in a corner. A project which would have to come to an end at some point. This is not surprising, because this is how it was framed in the 1997/1998 approved legacy policy framework document. However, the limitations of this approach are clear. At the time of the framework there was no well developed and capacitated heritage promotion and preservation branch with interrelated programmes and sub programmes, each focusing on a different aspect of legacy and memorialization work with its governance structures, advisory panels, councils and related public entities. The political imperatives of 1997/1998 were quite different to what they are now. In the liberation euphoria it was easy for the transformation of the heritage landscape to find pride of place in the budget priorities of the newly established democratic government.

Then it was a case of how to transform the heritage landscape so that it served the needs and aspirations of all the country's citizens and not just a race-based minority. While today the imperatives that inform policymaking are the country's triple challenges of unemployment, which stands at 34%-38%; poverty, with 55% of the country's population living below the poverty line; and inequality, with 20% of the population earning 70% of the national income. The media outcry and the subsequent backtracking on a cabinet decision to proceed with the development and installation of a monumental flag at an estimated cost of R22 million, is a case in point.

Despite committing to do so at the start of the projects through signed implementation protocols, Provinces have now indicated that they are no longer able to assume responsibility for the operations of completed institutions. While it remains of critical importance to recognize and memorialize significant events and individuals that contributed to our identity and memory, the mechanism for the memorialization needs to consider the availability of both human and financial capital. Due to directives from Cabinet and National Treasury, the approach currently being taken on memorialization inside and outside the country, is to move away from the establishment of interpretation centres and museums that require operational costs following their completion. The approach is therefore to develop durable, high impact but no operations, low maintenance commemorative structures, which tell the story without creating high capital institutions with recurring high operational costs.

Planned high capital heritage infrastructure that will lead to institutions with recurring high operational costs are scaled back pending the improvement of the fiscal situation. Heritage infrastructure already under construction will be completed to avoid fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Available resources in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) will be utilized for this purpose, and to develop durable, high impact but no operations and low maintenance commemorative structures and for alternative forms of memorialization.

This context and environment call for a reframing and repositioning from the above to a position, based on the current fiscal reality, competing priorities, reprioritization of heritage, of closer integration of all the legacy work taking place in the Department. This reframing and reposition require agility, integration, greater precision and clarity of scope and focus to maximize our impact despite the constraints. To quote the foreword of the Policy Development Framework: “If we are to improve our performance, we have to get the basics right by improving our policy thinking and analysis, strengthening policy coordination and ensuring meaningful stakeholder involvement as well as drawing from policy learnings from ex-post assessments.”

4.       VISION AND PRINCIPLES

4.1      Vision

To use memorialization to construct and foster a national identity based on human rights and social justice.

4.2      Values and Principles

This draft policy builds on the 1997 conceptual framework that espoused the following principles:

• Affirming cultural diversity
  • Ensuring inclusive practice and representation

Clearly, the heritage of the majority is markedly under-represented.  Gaps exist, particularly in the areas of pre-colonial history, in oral culture, in indigenous interpretations of land struggles during the colonial era; and in the struggle for liberation.  Preferences will be given to projects that address these disparities.  In many instances, new research will be needed to remedy the imbalances and omissions of past interpretations.

• • Diverse interpretations

Presentations of the past can also take a variety of forms: alternatives to building monuments could include sites associated with historical meaning, representations in museums, the preservation and declaration of entire historical districts, special archive exhibitions: travelling presentations, or festivals of living heritage. The last-mentioned would celebrate the traditional, intangible aspects of our legacy, including oral culture, customs and performance. Legacy projects would honour events, communities and individual people, and also depict their historical context.

• Redress
  • Inclusiveness

Our rich multicultural society should be affirmed. Acknowledgement of diversity illustrates and applauds democracy, respect for differing historical experiences, recognition of identity and reconciliation. The celebration of all our cultures ensures that there is a place for all in our society. Every effort should be made, through research into surviving documents, photographs and particularly oral history, to trace the direct involvement of all concerned with a particular memorial. The formerly silenced voices must be heard.  Commemorations of conflict and war should include multiple perspectives – there should be a feeling amongst all South Africans that their own history is respected and reflected, directly and indirectly in commemorations.

• • Heritage as an educational tool

Anniversaries and commemorations of events, as well as the reinterpretation of existing monuments and memorials can be used as a valuable educational tool to understand the struggle and to achieve democracy. Representations of conflict and war should be informed by the broad social, political and economic context in which the event occurred. This would help us to understand why people behaved as they did.

• • Redress of provincial and local inequities

The geographical imbalance in the representation of heritage must also be addressed. The histories of the larger cities are better represented than that of smaller towns and rural areas.

• Linking heritage to the NDP

Memorialization if conceptualized within the context of the NDP would positively associate the memory of the past with the achievements of the present and the challenges of the future.

• • Sustainable delivery of public goods

Sustainability is more likely if commemorative artwork (such as statues or sculptures) form focal points of avenues, parks and squares around which libraries, resource centres, art centres, clinics, sport facilities and civic centres could be situated.

• • Provision of place making

A place that recognizes its heritage bestows meaning to a site, such as the Enoch Sontonga Avenue, which has enhanced the cultural and spiritual worth of the Braamfontein Cemetery. South Africa can do more to develop the region as an international tourist destination by emphasizing the broader biodiversity, cultural diversity, and scenic beauty (NDP 2030).

Memorialization project proposals should acknowledge the needs of the disadvantaged, promote job creation, include training and empowerment of the community, spread resources and skills to the economically neglected and aim to benefit cultural and heritage tourism.

• • Utilize the creative talents of our local artists

Memorialization Projects should be encouraged to include local artists in design and interpretation.

• Ownership through public consultation
  • Legitimacy through participation

Consultation is a key legitimizing process. A procedure that promotes ‘ownership’ of the heritage of our people should include, where possible, public hearings; inviting the community to participate in the concepts and design through competitions and commissions; community gatherings and forums (be they of the landless, or focus groups such as historical societies, trade unions, etc.); exposure in the media in all languages, especially on radio, and consultation with democratically elected representatives.

• Guidelines for presentations
  • Style and symbol

Aesthetic guidelines are difficult to define as concepts of beauty are subjective; but style and symbol can be interpreted. Tributes to the struggles and courage of ordinary people, or usable monuments in harmony with the spirit of the memorial, such as a garden, a place of education or contemplation, a community centre, an avenue or city square, a sport stadium, or other public space, are more likely to stand the test of time.

• • Sensitivity to the environment

Care should be taken to design commemorations that are appropriate to the environment, sensitive to its natural and social context and appropriate aesthetically to our South African culture.

• • A range of styles and representations should be considered

If funding is a constraint, alternative, less expensive commemorations may also be considered, such as a smaller piece of artwork in a public space; new interpretation in museums; plaques or beacons to mark significant places; or specially designated sites for rituals and festivals.

• • Drawing on existing resources

Where possible, the memorialisation projects should draw on existing resources, re-evaluate these and possibly rededicate them.

• • Monuments to leaders

Careful consideration should be given to representations of leaders. While current thinking generally considers monuments to living leaders with caution, there is universal tradition in all cultures of paying tribute to leaders. There are those role models who, through their foresight, courage and material sacrifice, articulated, reflected and shaped popular consciousness and memory.  They inspired thousands of people to offer their own lives in the cause of a better life for all.  By their nature, popular democratic leaders represent a mass constituency and become symbols of inspiration far beyond their borders.

5.       POLICY STRATEGIC LINKAGES AND THEIR RELEVANCE

 

Regulatory provisions that facilitate the sustainable implementation of the policy are:

• The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act, No. 108 of 1996)
• Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act (Act No. 34 of 1995)
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRC) Report
• White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage (1996)
• Cultural Institutions Act (Act No. 119 of 1998)
• National Development Plan
• Heraldry Act (Act No. 18 of 1962)
• South African Geographical Names Council Act (Act No. 118 of 1998)
• The National Heritage Resources Act (Act No. 25 of 1999)
• The National Heritage Council Act (Act No. 11 of 1999)
• Revised White Paper on Arts, Culture and Heritage (2020)
• The feasibility study outcomes on the amalgamation of the DAC Public Entities
• National Policy on South African Living Heritage
• Promotion, Preservation, Protection and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Act (Act No 6 of 2019)
• National Policy on the Repatriation and Restitution of Human Remains and Heritage Objects
• Legal Deposit Act (Act No. 54 of 1997)
• National Archives and Record Service of South Africa Act (Act No. 43 of 1996)
• National Library of South Africa Act (Act No. 92 of 1998)
• National Council for Library and Information Services Act (Act No. 6 of 2001)
• Cultural and Creative Industries Master Plan (2022)
• Regional, inter-continental and international protocols
• South African Library for the Blind Act (Act No. 91 of 1998) 

6. EVIDENCE BASED PROBLEM STATEMENT

Nature, history, and scope of the problem (including trend identification and assessment-use of evidence)

6.1. Problem statement

The context within which the first and subsequent generation of legacy projects that were implemented lacked a policy and clear criteria that guided memorialization and selection of projects is to be prioritized. A national policy was therefore needed to provide a national framework for the identification and implementation of legacy projects.

Thus, this policy seeks to provide principles and criteria for the establishment of ‘memorialization’ projects, refocus/recontextualize existing projects and provide support to stakeholders on establishing sustainable memorialization projects. This policy is therefore required to assist the various partners and stakeholders to better articulate the linkages, integration, and alignment with other forms of legacy and memorialization work being done. The policy refocuses efforts and broadens the framework to better articulate its impact and contributes to the implementation of the NDP.

7. IMPACT OF PREVIOUS NLPS

Following the DSAC's assessment of its organizational achievements and challenges, the Department's reflection implicitly acknowledged that the desired goal of promoting national identity through reconciliation, healing, social cohesion, community involvement in heritage site management, and economic upliftment had not yet been fully realized.

The newly implemented heritage projects promised change to previously marginalised communities because the transformation of the heritage landscape is directly linked to the consciousness of the people’s historical past and future aspirations. The future aspirations are best displayed in symbols that seek to affirm a new national identity.  These assurances raised expectations.

The communities surrounding the newly constructed legacy projects believed that the post-apartheid heritage sites would provide opportunities for employment in heritage-related economic activities such as cultural tourism, site guides, restaurants, transportation operations, crafts, and other economic activities.

However, this was not the case, as some of these sites never fulfilled these objectives. The reality is that regional and macro-scale tourism trends influence economic opportunities associated with heritage resources. New infrastructure does not always result in an influx of visitors. Tourism evolves over time and necessitates consistent value propositions.

8. POLICY OBJECTIVES, EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES

8.1      Policy Aims

• This policy aims to continue to transform the heritage landscape through heritage infrastructure development and improvement, depending on availability of resources, through memorialization, and to better coordinate and articulate the linkages among the existing forms of memorialization to maximize their impact.
• The policy also aims to consolidate the past efforts towards memorialization of South Africa’s heritage that recognizes and promotes national identity through reconciliation, healing, social cohesion, community involvement and ownership, economic upliftment and education.
• It seeks to promote integration and coordination of memorialization programmes across various spheres and sectors by diverse role players and institutions.

8.2      Policy priorities

 The policy addresses and prioritizes the following:

1. to put in place an approved National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization.

(b)      to better articulate, integrate and coordinate the new forms of legacy and memorialization work done to increase its impact in reversing the legacy of slavery, colonialism, and apartheid.

(c)      to reposition the National Heritage Legacy Programme as an ongoing government programme and not a project with a fixed timeframe; and,

(d)      to increase markets and audiences for heritage facilities and products for greater sustainability.

8.3      Objectives and expected outcomes

8.3.1   Objective one

Make visible the strategic linkages among the various forms of memorialization and their relevance to the NLP to create a coordinated, integrated and high impact legacy and memorialization landscape.

8.3.2   Objective two

An ongoing, broadly embedded and owned multifaceted National Legacy and Memorialization Process to be reviewed later.

8.3.3   Objective three

Facilitate development of markets and audiences for heritage facilities and products to increase sustainability of the heritage sector.

8.3.4   Objective four

Facilitates job creation and/or entrepreneurship and enhance employability and economic opportunities for all South Africans, especially youth, women and persons with disabilities.

9        FOCUS AREAS

The focus areas contribute towards creating improved articulation, integration and coordination of existing and future memorialization programs; provide linkages to the development, preservation, protection, and promotion of tangible and intangible cultural heritage by developing content for heritage legacy projects; conceptualise statues, museums and interpretation centres; facilitate standardization of geographical names processes; and recording or documenting living human treasures.

The focus areas also include recognition of existing and future community libraries, thereby providing access to information and promoting a culture of reading in society as part of memorialization.

These focus areas provide the context for promotion of national identity and national symbols through public awareness activities as well as facilitate recognition and coordination of existing memorialization projects in all forms by stakeholder departments and other sectors. These should demonstrate the need to conceptualize, equip and operationalize future memorialization projects.

9.1      Policy focus area 1 –Alternative forms of memorialization initiatives

Make visible the strategic linkages among the various forms of memorialization and their relevance to the NLP. This should reflect an integrated and coordinated articulation of the impact of this work.

9.2      Policy focus area 2 – Museums and Sites

Conceptualize or reconceptualize museums and interpretation centres (within available resources), design, research, collect, install, and present objects, exhibitions and information in various forms in newly created and existing museums and in other platforms using information technology. These museums and sites should be equipped with resources whilst they are either under construction or where construction has been finalized.

Contribute to the NLP by correcting founding myths, decolonizing iconography in public spaces and transforming the heritage landscape.

9.3      Policy focus area 3 – Monuments, Statues and Memorials

Provide for the care and maintenance of existing structures and install new monuments, statues and memorials in public spaces.

Provide for repositioning and repurposing of monuments, statues and memorials of contested heritage.

9.4      Policy focus area 4 – Intangible Cultural Heritage/Living Heritage

South Africa has rich, unique, and diverse indigenous knowledge systems that have endured for generations. These indigenous knowledge systems have sustained our indigenous communities through times of plenty, droughts, floods, famine, and throughout all phases of life. Many of the manifestations of our living heritage such as rituals and rites of passage, traditional conservation of the environment, technology, legal and governance systems, indigenous languages, indigenous animal husbandry, agriculture, indigenous clothing, and indigenous architecture are disappearing and are not accorded the same status as other western and eastern knowledge systems.

Although South Africa’s constitution promotes and recognizes the right of communities to practice their culture, religion and languages, there is a continuous loss and neglect of South Africa’s unique and rich indigenous knowledge systems. This loss started around the time South Africa was colonized. 

Despite this reality, indigenous knowledge systems of South Africa have survived and have continued to be practiced and have sustained many communities in South Africa and throughout the continent. In South Africa, we have individuals who have continued to become reservoirs of our unique indigenous knowledge and skills.

These living human treasures are individuals who possess to a very high degree, the knowledge and skills required for performing or recreating specific elements of our indigenous knowledge. These people are invaluable to the transmission and reviving of our indigenous knowledge and need to be publicly recognized by all of South Africa.

As an example, a wedding ceremony is not limited to a single indigenous knowledge element but consists of multiple elements like music, dance, and lobola negotiations between families, rites of passage, exchange of gifts, and numerous other events. Similarly go phasa may include songs, dance rituals, rites, and offering of drinks and animal sacrifices to the ancestors.

Contribute to the NLP by safeguarding and document South Africa’s Intangible Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Knowledge through the writing of books on living human treasures and the compilation of a national register of South Africa’s indigenous knowledge systems assisted by the Indigenous Knowledge Authentication Panel. Additionally, by correcting founding myths, decolonizing iconography in public spaces and transforming the naming landscape.

9.5      Policy focus area 5 – Geographical Names

Publishing in the Government Gazette a list of geographical names approved by the Minister to promote transformation of the heritage landscape through geographical names standardization.

Contribute to the NLP by reclaiming removed geographical names, renaming spaces to names of anticolonial anti-apartheid heroes, moments and events, correcting founding myths and decolonizing the geographical names landscape.

9.6      Policy focus area 6 – National Symbols

The Bureau of Heraldry registers heraldic representations, names, special names, related designations or uniforms, which are owned by official authorities, associations, institutions, traditional authorities or individual persons, subject to the rules and principles of heraldry and in accordance with the established South African heraldic identity and tradition. The Bureau of Heraldry also popularizes national symbols through public awareness campaigns and coordinates the National Orders Awards Ceremony.

Contribute to the NLP by promoting national symbols towards fostering unity in diversity, social cohesion, national identity, nation building and patriotism.

9.7      Policy focus area 7 – Library and information Services

To develop policies and legislations that will provide access to Library and Information Services.

Transfer funds to provincial departments for conditional grant allocations to community library services for constructing and upgrading libraries, purchasing of library materials in all formats, including material for the blind and visually impaired, ICT etc.

The community library conditional grant funding contributes to the NLP by transforming urban and rural community library infrastructure, facilities and services at provincial level to close the gaps and address the inequalities of the past.

Libraries at all levels contributes to social cohesion by providing access to relevant material in indigenous languages and collections that promote heritage of the previously marginalized communities.

The provision of access to information enables the society to gain access to knowledge that will improve their socio-economic status.

Libraries promote literacy and support lifelong learning, create a culture of reading and improve the quality education.

9.8      Policy focus area 8 – National Archives Services

The National Archives and Records Service of South Africa (NARSSA) has to date digitised the Rivonia Trial Dictabelts, CODESA and Multiparty Negotiating Forum Collections. These are available online. Currently, the Treason Trial and TRC collections (dictabelts and paper records) are being digitised and will soon be uploaded on the NARSSA website.

More than 90% of archival records, however, are not digitized, which delays online access to records.

Digitisation is an ongoing process based on the extent of archival records preserved at the National Archives.

To ensure that NARSSA is able to fulfil its mandate of transformation and inclusivity, there is a need for the Department to provide additional resources for storage facilities and capacity.

The NARSSA contributes to the NLP by executing its mandate of acquiring, preserving, managing, and making accessible records with enduring value, particularly those records speaking of resistance to colonialism and the struggle against apartheid. Preserving our documentary heritage is essential in ensuring cultural continuity, accessing information and knowledge for future generations.

9.9      Policy focus area 9 – Repatriation and Restitution

The Repatriation and Restitution Office at the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) has been established to coordinate the repatriation and restitution of human remains and heritage objects.  It is important to note that, in terms of the National Policy on the Repatriation and Restitution of Human Remains and Heritage Objects, reasonable efforts must be made to restore the graves site (refill with soil) when human remains are removed. This should be done upon completion or establishment of a memorial site, provided funds are available.

10.      Implementation

Successful implementation of this policy framework will require partnership with key stakeholders which may include, but not be limited to the following:

• Business Arts South Africa (BASA)
• Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD)
• Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA)
• Department of Finance (DF)
• Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE)
• Department of Human Settlements (DHS)
• Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO)
• Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME)
• Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI)
• Department of Science and Innovation (DSI)
• Department of Small Business Development (DSBD)
• Department of Tourism (DoT)
• Department of Transport
• Department of Women Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD)
• Government Communication and Information System (GCIS)
• Municipalities
• National Heritage Council (NHC)
• Other departments and interested parties
• Provincial Governments (Museums and Heritage Directorates)
• Public broadcasters
• South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA)
• South African Local Government Association (SALGA)
• The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL)

10.1    Target beneficiaries and stakeholders

The policy targets the heritage sector as well as the departments responsible for sport, arts, culture and heritage in the three tiers of government. The draft National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization acknowledges that the sector is part of a broader ecosystem with various stakeholders, which include:

• heritage practitioners
• heritage specialists (i.e. archaeologists, historians, curators, etc.)
• academia
• community members, in particular youth, women and people living with disabilities
• civil society
• the private sector
• government (national, provincial and local)
• international heritage organisations.

10.2    Target beneficiaries – Key factors

10.2.1 Inclusivity in legacy projects for people with disabilities  

As part of the broader equality framework, the sector and the Department recognize the rights of people with disabilities and will create opportunities through mandatory representation in all public-funded initiatives and ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to people with disabilities so that they can be active participants in the sector. An inclusive approach in and through the NLP must also recognize and affirm citizens with any form of disability, whether physical or not. The inclusivity will be reflected in policy implementation, infrastructure, training and capacity-building programmes and hiring in the heritage sector.

10.2.2 Gender in the NLP

The draft National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization is guided by the Constitution and, as such, emphasizes inclusivity. The heritage sector will initiate, facilitate and implement programmes that seek to ensure access for women, particularly from previously disadvantaged communities to the heritage and legacy programme. The sector continues to reflect vast inequalities in the representation of women in general and black women in particular.

Heritage bursaries and scholarships and the placement of graduates in the Department and heritage institutions must continue to prioritise vulnerable groups in society.

Amplification of existing youth-specific programmes in established public-funded heritage institutions as part of support and development of the youth in the heritage sector.

The NLP will strive to contribute to the following actions:

• enhancing gender awareness in the workplace and promoting a conducive and empowering environment for women and the LGBTQI+ community in general.
• strengthening gender equality training, gender-based violence awareness and the dissemination of gender-disaggregated and gender-relevant information.
• designing targeted procurement and enterprise development programmes to increase the participation of women as business owners.
• developing regulations on gender that address the above objectives and report regularly on progress in implementing these actions as part of implementing the NLP.

10.2.3 Youth development and support

The heritage sector will initiate, facilitate and implement programmes that seek to ensure access for the youth, particularly from previously disadvantaged communities, to the heritage and NLP.

Heritage bursaries and scholarships and the placement of graduates in the Department and heritage institutions will continue to prioritize youth.

The Department in liaison with CATHSSETA to ensure a national heritage internship programme as part of work readiness and employability. This will ensure that existing funding always includes the promotion and protection of the heritage sector through professional development.

Amplification of existing youth-specific programmes in established public-funded heritage institutions as part of support and development of the youth in the heritage sector.

10.3    Resource allocation

10.3.1 Human resource allocation

The NLP will continue to be implemented through the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, its entities and across various spheres and sectors by diverse role players and institutions.

10.3.2 Financial resource allocation

NLP funding will continue through the established funding mechanisms in the Department such as the Community Library Grant, Mzansi Golden Economy and the Presidential Stimulus Package and through the established funding agencies such as the National Heritage Council (NHC).

The Department will also continue to share its funding priorities with the National Lotteries Commission for incorporation in its funding framework. In line with the shift of emphasis to marketing and creating audiences for heritage institutions and products, the Department will intensify efforts to position heritage for maximum tourist consumption through formal partnerships and implementation plans with relevant government departments, bilateral and multilateral international fora, the private sector and other relevant partners.  

10.3.3 Systems

Establishing/updating heritage sector systems minimum standards guidelines.

Ensure the provision of culturally and contextually appropriate systems for the different heritage spaces across the country.

10.4    Roles and responsibilities

The National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization will be administered by the Minister responsible for Sport, Arts and Culture.

The Minister and the Department will continue to use existing or establish new interdepartmental collaborative mechanisms for the realization of this policy's objectives in line with the Intergovernmental Relations Framework.

The interdepartmental collaborative mechanisms will also include relevant public entities, civil society organizations, heritage practitioners, the private sector, and all other relevant stakeholders to capture communities' values, identities, aspirations, desires and dreams, among others, through heritage practice, to monitor the implementation of this policy according to set regulations and guidelines and to mobilize diverse resources for the realization of the NLP.

10.5    Communication

The National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization is guided by the Government Communication Policy of the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

10.6    Marketing and Audience Development

• To grow the sustainability of the heritage sector by increasing national and international markets for heritage products.
• The heritage sector draws up national and international theatre and dance marketing and audience development trends in liaison with the sector stakeholders.
• Incentivising theatre and dance in indigenous African languages and cultures as part of reaching a broader population to grow local markets.
• Public-funded heritage institutions to tap into the approved official schools set books, among others. This will grow new audiences.
• Cultural hubs as spaces where business, tourism, technology, sports and the arts can come together in entrepreneurial and innovative ways, should be established and/or encouraged.
• Building marketing capability through a new generation of marketers of heritage products.
• Marketers to be identified and mentored over at least 12-month periods by marketers with recognised experience.
• Formalise and create a marketing and audience development network for the heritage sector.

10.7    Governance

10.7.1 Performance reporting and accountability

Performance reporting and accountability for the National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization is aligned with the Government Wide-Monitoring and Evaluation System and National Evaluation Policy Framework and does not require separate reporting and accountability arrangements.

10.7.2 Transparency and information dissemination

Transparency and information dissemination will be effected through the existing policy, institutional and implementation framework in the different areas of legacy and memorialisation work and does not require new transparency and information dissemination regulations.

10.8    Risk assessment and mitigation strategy

The strategy will be in alignment with national priorities as stipulated in the NDP of the day.

10.8.1 Risks identification

The following risks were identified:

#	Risk	Mitigation
1.	Not finding the skills needed to implement the policy change process	Heritage Bursary programme to create the skills required. Placement programme whereby the Department fund the placing of interns in various institutions in the sector, including the Department. Reskilling (Internal) Trainings (External)
2.	Existing legal instruments may frustrate the accomplishment of the objectives set out in the policy regarding formalisation	Investigate and implement interim measures pending the review and changes to legislation, thus creating a balance between the informal and formal
3.	Resistance to change in the sector	Facilitate sector buy-in through the national coordinating structures
4.	Lack of access to digital infrastructure	Use proven and existing technologies alongside the adoption of new technologies. Embrace technology by acquiring relevant software and hardware systems.
5.	Limited budget to cover operational costs of newly established memorialisation projects.	Mobilisation of resources through PPPs and international cultural institutions

 

 

 

 

11.      POLICY MONITORING, EVALUATION AND REVIEW

         

11.1    Policy implementation indicators

 

Implementation indicators for the National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization are already provided for in the Department and Government Wide Planning Framework. No new implementation indicators are required.

 

11.2    Monitoring processes

 

Monitoring of the National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization is aligned with the Government Wide-Monitoring and Evaluation System and National Evaluation Policy Framework and does not require separate monitoring processes.

 

11.3    Heritage Legacy Programme minimum standards sector guidelines monitoring processes

 

Monitoring of the National Policy Framework for Heritage Memorialization minimum standards sector guidelines are aligned with the Government Wide-Monitoring and Evaluation System and National Evaluation Policy Framework and does not require separate monitoring processes.

 

11.4    Evaluation of the policy

 

The national department responsible for sport, arts and culture will carry out ongoing policy evaluation through reports generated across all tiers of government, reports from heritage practitioners, independent stakeholders, heritage institutions' annual reports and other reputable sources.

• The data collected will be used to–

• draw up a socio-economic impact assessment;
• establish the effectiveness and efficiency of the policy, resource allocation and financial management;
• establish new areas of resource allocation priorities;
• establish areas in need of infrastructure development, including digital infrastructure;
• establish relationship-building priorities among heritage stakeholders;
• identify heritage practices in need of promotion and protection.

 

 

 

11.5    Policy review schedule

 

• The Department will from time to time initiate a review of the policy on its own or based on the requests and submissions of the sector.
• It is recommended that the policy must be reviewed every three years. This is based on the longest funding cycle, i.e. three years, being in its final financial year, which will facilitate a nuanced national review based on grass-roots data and analysis.
• The Department will notify the sector and invite submissions on changes required whenever it is necessary to review the policy.
• The Department will issue a schedule of the process for the review of the policy.
• Reports from all public-funded entities will be amalgamated and form part of the national review. It is therefore imperative that all reports are done to a certain standard which contributes to national data collection and analysis.      

 

12.      CONCLUSION

 

Based on the social context as well as an understanding of the various roles that the sport, arts, culture and heritage sectors can play within varied conditions, it is recommended that we base our policies, funding and strategic approaches on the belief that heritage has:

 

• value in its own right in the context of individual and personal human development,
• social value in contributing to societal transformation and in being instrumentalised for socially good ends,
• economic value in that it contributes to job creation, income generation and contribute directly and indirectly to economic growth.

 

As the heritage sector goes into the next decade, it will be dealing with new realities in the context of the ever-changing world; therefore, the sector must buttress collaborative approaches.

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