Shot in the arm for BCM heritage sites

Metro sets aside R4m, joins forces with NHC

BUFFALO City Metro (BCM) will invest R4-million to boost heritage sites expected to form part of the national liberation route.

The metro roped in the National Heritage Council (NHC) to assist in helping preserve the metro’s history and heritage.

Executive mayor Xola Pakati announced to hundreds of residents in Mdantsane last Friday that the city had allocated funds for this financial year to develop arts, culture and heritage sites in the metro.

“BCM, as you know, was part of the liberation struggle for freedom. It will now have recognised heritage sites that are properly recognised by the National Heritage Council.”

The announcement came after the BCM council approved the city’s new partnership with the NHC.

The aim of the liberation heritage route project is to “identify and develop precincts on the sites of historical and heritage importance”.

Among the names of those in BCM who will be celebrated through the project are the late anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko and boxing legend Nkosana “Happyboy” Mgxaji.

BCM project specialist for economic development and agencies, Noludwe Ncokazi, said the project was about recognising people, communities, events, places and icons and recording epoch-making stories which has significant impact on the struggle for liberation.

Ncokazi admitted that BCM had attempted to implement the project in previous years, however, it failed “due to budget constraints and the unstructured approach” as a result no “significant strides were made”.

Ncokazi said BCM now hoped the NHC’s involvement would assist the metro to dedicate financial and nonfinancial resources and implement the project.

“We are currently finalising the implantation plan and we plan to start in November.

“The project is not only about celebrating people but it also involves the languages, heritage, sports heritage in this region together with the liberation struggle heritage,” She told the Dispatch yesterday.

She said through the project, the metro’s residents and tourists would be introduced to new street names and changes of names for some significant places.

“Apart from the aim to preserve and promote our heritage there will be economic spin-offs. There will be research that still needs to be done to understand who are the heroes in this area,” Ncokazi added.

Pakati yesterday said: “We have signed a MoU with the National Heritage Council to preserve our rich heritage and identify heritage sites, including motivation to Unesco for recognition of some of our sites.”

During its presentation to BCM in May, the NHC urged the city to appoint leaders who will help in shaping the strategic content for the liberation heritage route on the BCM agenda, to develop strategic frameworks on how to drive the metro’s liberations heritage route infrastructure projects and define longterm Integrated Development Plan (IDP) considerations for liberation heritage and future planning.