Heritage Trust; GPG Citichat 23 November 2001

CITICHAT 46/2001 - 23 November 2001


Heritage; GPG Plans to reduce traffic congestion

The newly established Johannesburg Heritage Trust had its second meeting earlier this month and is starting where it should, at the beginning, as it develops its strategy.

heritage n. 1 anything that is or may be inherited 2 inherited circumstances, benefits, etc. 3 a nation’s historic buildings, monuments, countryside, etc. esp. when regarded as worthy of preservation. Concise Oxford Dictionary.

“Historic areas are part of the daily environment of human beings everywhere. (They) represent the living presence of the past which formed them….(They) afford down the ages the most tangible evidence of the wealth and diversity of cultural, religious and social activities…..Their safeguarding and their integration into the life of contemporary society is a basic factor in town planning and land development.” 1976 UNESCO Recommendations

“The goal is to preserve the city’s human face, thereby connecting contemporary life with the past, and contributing to group identity and civic pride." The Organisation of World Heritage Cities

“Johannesburg never stood still long enough to have its portrait painted. A restless city, it grew at a spectacular rate, with bigger and better buildings elbowing out the original shantytown. These buildings were in turn demolished, until little of original Johannesburg was left except in the memories of its people. An exciting place, certainly, but could such a brash and bold city inspire tender memories?” C Robertson ‘Remembering Old Johannesburg’.

“Following up from our discussion regarding heritage and how South Africans relate to history in the apartheid era, I wanted to let you know how one of my friends reacted when I posed the question of whether or not he was interested in the historical value of the Rissik Street Post Office, and whether signage posted to relate the historical significance of the site was important. He replied 'no, I really don't care about that at all. Putting up a sign outside a building built in the apartheid era, where neither my family nor I was allowed to enter, would be kind of like displaying a framed picture of an abusive ex-boyfriend in your home.'” Work colleague (American)

How do you deal with the enormous tensions that are reflected in these quotations? If we are going to preserve the city’s human face thus connecting contemporary life with the past, how do we do so if that very past is totally abhorrent? How does one foster “group identity and civic pride” when there is nothing in the urban environment that has been contributed by the vast majority of the group whose identity one is trying to foster?

In thinking about other countries and cultures, the uniqueness of these tensions that we have to deal with came home to me forcibly. In the USA the buildings and monuments that draw the American people together are almost entirely post their Independence in 1776. There was extremely little built infrastructure in place before then, so that the physical icons that bind Americans together were all developed and built by Americans after the country had dealt with internal and external divisiveness. (This is what makes this city’s Constitution Hill development so important – it is the first major new building in the country that will be an icon for all future South Africans,) In England, the natural ongoing development of their built environment was only interrupted relatively briefly 2000 years ago by the Romans. What is left of the Roman occupation in physical terms is miniscule and has to be sought out by those who may have an interest therein. The cities of Europe, the Middle East and East as well as North Africa generally reflect centuries of their own local and unique cultures sometimes infused with but never dominated by those of temporary marauders. Even the icons of Nazism within Germany were, as it were, ‘homegrown’ But in Central and Southern Africa, colonialism and, in our case apartheid, were dominant forces which basically obliterated all physical traces of the indigenous cultures. Take away Nazism and you are left with a German infrastructure with the odd reminders of the aberration. Take away colonialism and apartheid and the whole infrastructure remains. We don’t have to create museums we are one! But divisive.

The debate at the Trust meeting was therefore interesting.

"when we talk about education whom should we focus on?"

"knocking down every old building because they are symbols of oppression must be countered with the fact that they today represent political and human rights victories"

" shouldn't we be looking at experiential solutions to celebrating heritage rather than traditional?"

"easier to address this issue to young people who are receiving an education and have no personal experiences or hang-ups of the past rather than with the generation who had no proper education because of the political situation and see many structures as negative reminders of why they are where they are today and of what should never of happened"

"developers often see heritage as barriers to profit"

"how do you make heritage accessible to PABs? (Post-apartheid babies)

"one must have a balance between differing attitudes each of which is firmly based and justified in people's minds - there isn't necessarily a single truth or a single history, there are many truths and many histories"

"buildings have stories to tell and a building doesn’t have to be old or architecturally pleasing to tell that story - we must identify individual significances"

"a major misconception is that the only history is white or black"

"buildings are not the sole source of heritage, one must look at the contemporary culture that surrounds them"

"places mustn't be dead memorials but living, vital places"

Prof Alan Lipman told the story of taking some visitors to the Voortrekker Monument. How it had struck him that there was adequate place above or below the friezes that depict one side of history for the other side to now be equally shown. “After all,” he said, “There is never one history, there are many histories”. I seem to remember someone once saying that "the conquerors always write the history." Pallo Jordan in a newspaper article made the comment that “historical amnesia accompanies commemoration of conflict”. There is a clear acknowledgement of those statements in the change in the name of “the last gentleman’s war” from “die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog” (“the second war of liberation”) or “Boer War” to the “Anglo-Boer South African War.”

Maybe in this we have the key for the Heritage Trust and for all who seek to preserve that which is considered worthy of preservation in a city and a country such as ours. As we seek to preserve the city’s human face we must seek ways to always incorporate both faces of history. As a result, preservation is going to require a massive education process. We'd welcome input.

STOP PRESS! Check out the Provincial Government website on www.gpg.gov.za for a brief report on Provincial Government plans "aimed at reducing the levels of congestion on roads and streets of Gauteng" The responsible MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu plans to promote public transport incentives and car disincentives. The report states: " Measures designed to make car travel less attractive include physical measures, such as redesigning streets to reduce or eliminate traffic, and regulatory or organisational controls, prohibiting traffic from using certain facilities. Other measures use economic or pricing instruments to charge motorists for driving or parking, land use planning controls to reduce reliance on cars, and imposing taxes on the purchase of cars. Effective implementation of these disincentive will reduce the vehicle-kilometres travelled, and will encourage people to make multi-purpose trips, to try ride-sharing and car-pooling, which lead to increased occupancy rates and also switch to public transport trips."

“We are also developing a policy on congestion pricing, as well as a provincial policy on parking supply and pricing, which are expected to discourage car use and encourage the use of public transport,” Mosunkutu pointed out.

Oi vey! I wonder just where the public transport is that the MEC is planning to stimulate? And remember when the City Fathers decided to introduce measures to curb traffic and parking in the city way back in the late sixties/early seventies? That was what started the exodus to the north and the resultant decline of the city. Now the MEC is planning a pilot project in the north to be launched in Sandton! I guess that's one way to revitalise the CBD that I hadn't thought about! Watch out for the porsches, mercs and beemers streaming back south!