The National Heritage Council has proposed that government adopts a heritage levy to protect South Africa’s heritage sites, which ultimately contribute to the country’s tourism industry.

Referring to the existing tourism levy, CEO of the National Heritage Council, Sonwabile Mancotywa, said on local radio station, 702, that every tourism business thrived on heritage. “There is no tourism product that does not use heritage as content, either natural or cultural heritage.”

Honourary Associate Professor at Wits School of Architecture and Planning, Kathy Munro, says heritage sites are important to South Africa’s tourism industry. “They are cultural touchstones and have the potential to encourage tourists to learn about South Africa’s history through its artifacts, architecture and museums.”

However, many of the country’s heritage sites are under threat. The Heritage Monitoring Project has compiled a list of endangered sites, which includes the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), however, Munro says: “Our view is that the list represents a tiny portion of endangered sites. There is lots of work to do across South Africa.”

The Egoli Heritage Foundation previously expressed concern about the state of JAG, which is home to one of the continent’s most valuable collections. “In 2017, we were informed that JAG does not meet fire safety requirements,” says Herbert Prins of the Egoli Heritage Foundation, mentioning that neither structural engineers nor fire safety inspectors wanted to sign off on the building following the attempts by the Johannesburg Development Agency to renovate it. “City authorities are playing with fire and putting the lives of their employees and visitors at risk.”

In order to preserve SA’s heritage sites, Munro says awareness, activism, political interest, education, effective legislation, application of the law, resources and funding, and publicity are needed. “Persuade people to join heritage bodies and become activists,” says Munro, emphasising the fact that funding is needed. “There needs to be a sustainable model to generate huge income.”

According to Mancotywa, the tourism levy that is in place does not go to South Africa’s heritage: “We need funding to maintain sites, and to document our heritage, which is really knowledge.”

There has to be purpose and active income generated from the use of a building, and this is where tourism can come up with the answers, says Munro.

“The loss of heritage objects within heritage buildings, such as at JAG, would constitute an immeasurable loss to the national estate,” adds Prins.  The Egoli Heritage Foundation has called upon local, provincial and national authorities to appoint a commission of inquiry to advise on how to deal with the problems that confront heritage structures and collections.