Retaining indigenous values of built heritage: a case of Makgabeng, Limpopo province, South Africa

Abstract

Values that influence the conservation of built heritage in South Africa have been based on the western perspective of what constitutes value. In turn, these western values are based on tangible values that focus on retaining the built environment using aesthetic and economic values, as well as sustainability. Intangible indigenous values, such as ancestral values, have been side-lined under the assertion that they are backward. The inclusion of intangible values within the conservation of the built environment has been under the influence of approaches such as Critical Discourse Analysis and Multi Criteria Decision Making through encouraging public participation processes. Globalisation and urbanisation continue to affect how the conservation of indigenous built environments is dealt with. The Indigenous Knowledge Systems Bill was passed in South Africa only in 2017 and the Protection, Promotion, Development, and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Act (Act 6 of 2019) was enacted only in 2019. It can therefore be argued that the protection of indigenous knowledge and indigenous ways of life, as well as the indigenous built environments and values associated with them is still in its infancy in South Africa. It is under these conditions that I seek to investigate how intangible indigenous values of built heritage can or have been incorporated and retained in brick-and-mortar architecture. This incorporation would not only ensure the conservation of said values but would also, in turn, render those structures as heritage. To tackle this, Makgabeng Plateau, located in the Limpopo province of South Africa, was chosen as a case study area.