Abstract
Abstract. The management of heritage resources within the South African context is governed by the National Heritage Resources Act, act 25 of 1999 (NHRA). This legislation calls for an integrated system of heritage management that allows for the good governance of heritage across the three tiers of government. The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA), as the national body responsible for heritage management, is mandated to compile and maintain an inventory of the national estate. The South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS) was designed to facilitate this mandate as well as provide a management platform through which the three-tiers of governance can be integrated. This vision of integrated management is however predicated on the implementation of the three-tier system of heritage management, a system which to date has not been fully implemented, with financial and human resource constraints being present at all levels. In the absence of the full implementation of this system and the limited resources available to heritage authorities, we argue that a risk based approach to heritage management will allow under resourced heritage authorities in South Africa to prioritise management actions and ensure mitigations are in place for at risk heritage resources. The aim of this paper is to position the inventory of the national estate as the key driver in the production of risk analysis models for an informed approach to heritage management.
Highlights
Heritage resources management in South Africa is governed by the National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999 (NHRA)
Noting that the integrated system of heritage management as required under the NHRA is not fully implemented, we argue that the use of a risk-based approach will provide a method through which the three tiers of heritage management authorities can proactively prioritise interventions despite limited resources
4.5.2 Seismic susceptibility: South Africa is rated moderate to low in terms of seismicity due to the relatively stable African crust, South Africa does experience a scatter of seismic foci with a wide range of intensities as measured on the Modified Mercalli Scale (MMS)
Summary
Heritage resources management in South Africa is governed by the National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999 (NHRA) This new legislation aimed to address the many imbalances in the representation and management of South Africa’s heritage postapartheid. Drawing on the principles established by the World Heritage Convention, the Burra Charter, and legislation enacted by countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the NHRA set out to introduce a system of heritage management that is reflective of South Africa’s constitution, and integrates the three tiers of government for the benefit of all South Africans (Deacon, 2015). The NHRA came into effect on 1 April 2000 when the previous heritage management body, the National Monuments Council (NMC) was replaced by the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) as the body responsible for heritage management at national level (Deacon, 2015). SAHRA uses the data within the inventory to produce a summary and analysis of the national estate, a document aimed at highlighting trends and making use of the data collected to actively illustrate the importance of inventories in active heritage management (SAHRA, 2017, 2018, 2019)
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