Heritage deserves to be care for: Editorial comment

IT IS nothing short of an embarrassment and a sad indictment on Nelson Mandela Bay that a centre which boasts such a proud, vivid and multicultural history is failing to keep it alive.

As our extensive investigation reveals today, many heritage sites and structures which catalogue so much of the metro’s diverse milestones and its colourful and, at times, tumultuous journey from its earliest beginnings, have been allowed to go to rack and ruin.

The fact that it appears the remnants of apartheid somehow still govern the extent to which care and maintenance of these sites is administered, is even more disturbing.

That so-called “white” commemorative venues and structures are in far better condition than those that commemorate, for example, pivotal struggle events, reflects exceptionally negatively on a society striving for greater social integration and cohesion.

There will be those who will argue whether these monuments, buildings and other forms of homage to heroes and events are so significant as to warrant huge attention.

Maintenance means money and there exist certainly far greater needs for a cash-strapped metro that struggles daily to meet the many demands of service delivery. Indeed, the municipality blames severe budget constraints as the prime reason why heritage sites are often not afforded the attention they desperately need.

The bottom line of course is this is the Bay’s history, its people’s heritage, a legacy from the city’s founding families – whether you live in Veeplaas, New Brighton or Humewood.

There may be no cash in city coffers but it is then incumbent on communities to at least put in some effort to ensure these sites are kept in a respectable state – memorials of which its residents can be proud and which will serve to inform and enlighten visitors and future generations alike.

One only has to look at the iconic but decimated Red Location Museum – which became the hapless victim of a community’s grievances – to appreciate the attitude that remembering a painful past is far less important than ensuring the present is not equally miserable.

It is a valid point – but one that ignores one simple lesson. We as a nation have achieved what many at one time considered impossible.

The paths our forefathers trod – for all their rockiness and adversity – have brought us here. And that is worth serious reflection.