Two decades after the National Heritage Resources Act [no. 25 of 1999]: are we there yet?

Abstract

Twenty-four years ago, the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999 (NHRA) was enacted in South Africa. With this democratic legislation arose a new grading system with the aim of uplifting previously marginalised groups by incorporating heritage management on a community level. But while South Africa now has all nine Provincial Heritage Resource Authorities set up, only three of the nine provinces’ authorities have been granted full competency by SAHRA to perform functions under the NHRA. This reflects a functional bias because it implies differential institutional capacities. Furthermore, few studies have been conducted pertaining to the NHRA’s efficiency across all nine provinces with a holistic lens. This is the first study to explore the impact of the NHRA on the types of heritage declared in South Africa across all nine provinces. The aim of this dissertation was to examine whether competency granted i.e., stronger institutional capacities lead to a greater transformation of heritage towards the postcolonial ideals of the NHRA. This was done by quantifying the types of heritage declared from the inception of new heritage legislation until March of 2022. The findings were that, statistically, PHRA competency has no bearing on the declared heritage lists in relation to non-colonial heritage legitimisation due the immense imbalance caused by the colonial legacy that still effects all provinces. It is therefore the recommendation of this dissertation that all former National Monuments be re-assessed for their significance so that accurate readings of the NHRA’s changes can be facilitated.