Turf war derails plans for world heritage site
Mpumalanga land owners want management role
The future of Mpumalanga’s world heritage site remains uncertain following disagreements over who should be in charge between landowners and the Mpumalanga provincial government.
As South Africa’s 10th World Heritage site, Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains was inducted at the 42nd United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Committee meeting in 2018.
The Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains World Heritage Site, comprising 113 000-hectare property on the Barberton Greenstone Belt, is endowed with a picturesque range of small to medium hills and mountains that cover about 80% of Mpumalanga.
It has the oldest and best-preserved sedimentary and volcanic rock, which earned it the world heritage site status.
The dispute over who should be in charge of the 3.6-billion-year-old site is stalling the project.
“Subsequent to the inscription by Unesco, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, proclaimed the property and declared Mpumalanga department of economic development and tourism as the management authority on 28 January 2021,” said Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) spokesperson Kholofelo Nkambule on Thursday.
It is this management authority aspect that has led to 19 landowners within the
Barberton Greenstone Belt demanding that their involvement in ensuring the status of the heritage site be duly recognised. Lack of involvement places the status of “heritage” at risk.
In line with Unesco’s standing operating procedure, management of the site requires the involvement of the landowners.
Without assured involvement, the landowners are feeling neglected, blaming the Mpumalanga economic development and tourism MEC Vusi Mkhatshwa for the stalemate.
“The MEC’S assignment of the MTPA as the management authority for the world heritage site has placed the site at risk of losing its status.
“It has ignored years of work and the resolution of 19 separate community trusts, private and corporate landowners who collectively own 74% of the land in Barberton Makhonjwa World Heritage Site. The remaining 26% is state-owned land,” said spokesperson for the 19 landowners Mark Ngwenyama.