Overrun by tourists
LISTED: HOME DECLARED HERITAGE SITE WITHOUT FAMILY KNOWING
Hero’s children struggling, family received no help with funeral.
Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality and the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) have listed the family house in Ventersdorp, North West, of a fallen political hero as a heritage site – allegedly without notifying its occupants.
The family of anti-apartheid hero Cornelius Pitiki Lerefolo said they heard from international tourists that their family house was a heritage site.
A family house planner also warned they cannot renovate the house because it has been earmarked as a heritage site. SAHRA and the North West 405 Municipality officials confirmed the house was listed as a heritage site in 2008.
But North West 405 Municipality spokesperson Willie Maphosa said the merged municipalities, Ventersdorp and Tlokwe, did not play any role in the listing process.
“Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality had commissioned a firm of consultants to identify sites in the district that could be listed as heritage relics. Unfortunately though, the firm concerned in turn sought and utilised students who were poorly trained in heritage auditing to do the field work.
“The Lerefolo house was thus listed on the basis of its importance and significance to the struggle history of the township. Consequently, the list that was produced from this process was posted on the internet without being properly audited and in most cases, with inaccurate information,” said Maphosa.
Maphosa said the family was supposed to have been consulted as a point of departure and that a SAHRA form 307 had to be completed with more information working closely with the family.
“All the heritage places originally listed have to be redone by a heritage or museum professional, also in accordance with auditing standard grab 103 if it resides under the ownership of our municipality as an asset. “The experience of the Lerefolo family is unfortunate,” said Maphosa. Cornelius Pitiki Lerefolo and his comrades held political meetings at the house during the apartheid era. Lerefolo’s sister Deborah Lerefolo, pictured, said: “We still live here. But the house is old and not in good condition, therefore we wanted to renovate it. We have to because when it rains, it gets flooded.
“Tourists are transported here by municipal employees for sightseeing and pictures. They just come without notification and when we question them, they say it is a heritage site, are we not aware of that?
“Government did not help us with the burial of our brother in 2010. His children are struggling, but they have turned our home into a heritage site, saying he was a hero. We still live in the same house, where do they want us to go?”
North West provincial heritage authority coordinator Mosiane Mothlabane said a family member of the hero, Ntoni Lerefolo, was their point of reference. However, Ntoni said he was not contacted about the listing of the house.
Wendy Sokupha, Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality manager of tourism, sports, arts, culture and heritage, said the family had the right to the property as no agreements or commitments have been made by the district. There was no expectation that they should be relocated elsewhere.
Sokupha added that the only information that the district had was the listed sites in catalogue form in a project report.
“The use of the information by any person without the process being finalised as per our project implementation plan can be viewed as unlawful,” she said. “Members of the community, government or any entity cannot use this information when in our view, it has not been gazetted as per phase three of this project.
“Members of the community should not allow any person to claim the heritage status of their home without the relevant gazette copy.”
There is no expectation that they should be relocated.