CULTURE IN TRANSITION IN SOUTH AFRICA
- LECTURE 4: PROBLEMS IN CONSERVATION
OF THE HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENT
IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA
INTRODUCTION
Until 1994 the conservation of South Africa’s national heritage was in the care of the National Monuments Council (NMC), a body dominated by conservative Afrikaners, usually members of a secret society known as the Broederbond, and given to meeting the Apartheid government’s political agenda. Their primary activity was the proclamation of national monuments, which could include important historical buildings as well as the holiday homes of politicians, historical holes in the ground and hyena traps.
From 1986 onwards, the regional committees of the NMC were also working in close collaboration with Regional Security Councils, committees with a major military presence whose task it was to suppress dissent against government policy, by force if necessary This was felt particularly in the Eastern Cape, one of the country’s major centres of civil unrest, where the NMC was also unusually active.
A graph of NMC activity from 1934, when it was established, through to 1990, when the first steps towards a democratic state began to be taken, will clearly show a correlation between the proclamation of national monuments, and episodes of violence and suppression of opposition by the racist white government.
There is thus a clear indication that the proclamation of national monuments was used as a means of supporting racist ideology, usually by emphasising the achievements of immigrant White culture and linking these to the supposed superiority of the White (Master) race. Other tools used in this propaganda were postage stamps and a number of well-researched books published with the support of government funding.
After 1994, new conservation legislation was used to establish the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) whose responsibilities were widened to include the proclamation of historical precincts, and the protection of any building older than 60 years. Greater autonomy was also given to regional sub-committees to implement decisions at a local level.
Although the new agency has managed to democratise the processes of monument declaration, and has made a number of important inroads into public thinking on the subject, it has nonetheless has hit some severe drawbacks. These include:
- A resistance to the appointment of white experts, regardless of their past political record;
- An inability to make decisions, even minor ones, without going through a process which can take up to 24 months to complete;
- An inability to have its committees appointed, at a Ministerial level, to such a degree that today there is no operational national committee and five of the nine provincial committees have never existed;
- In some instances there has been insufficient funds to pay for the petrol of its officials, who were thus forced to use their own resources to fulfil their duties;
- Most importantly, an inability to enforce its own legislative powers. A recent survey of Uniondale, a small village in the southern Cape, has shown that since 1994 it has lost 49% of its historical buildings, and that even its very few declared national monuments are being vandalised beyond restoration.
It would be fair to say that the conservation of the South African national heritage is currently in a state of crisis and, perhaps even, meltdown.
NATURE OF THE NATIONAL HERITAGE
South Africa is blessed with a wide range of regional architectures which reflect the wide cultural diversity of its people. These include:
a. Early white immigrant architecture, usually referred to Cape Dutch. This remains largely in the hands of private individuals and commercial companies, who prize it highly for its corporate image, and is currently well cared for.
b. English settler. Some is well maintained, largely when located in urban areas, where it has been integrated into local tourist strategies.
c. Early Colonial architecture. These fall into a number of distinct groups:
Churches remain mostly in use and are thus well looked after. Not so fortunate have been he buildings of other faiths, most notably the Jewish, where a reduction in local Jewish populations has resulted in the loss of their former premises.
Hindu Temples. Almost all of these managed to outlast the onslaught of Apartheid, and many survive through to the present day as working places of devotion. Nonetheless they receive no grants towards their upkeep, and their survival is contingent upon the goodwill and continued affluence of their congregations. In many cases, also, their maintenance is becoming extremely difficult as the necessary skills can no longer be found in this country, and crafters have to be imported from India and Malaysia.
Mosques. The same comments apply as per Hindu temples above. Some mosques have since been declared national monuments, but this has meant little to the communities most directly affected.
Mission Stations. Barring a few notable examples, such as Genadendal, where overseas sources are contributing to their upkeep, most of the country’s 2000-plus missions have been lost to vandalism and social change.
Railway Stations. Despite their pragmatic and often industrial concerns, the national Railways have proved to be good guardians of those historical railway buildings that continue to function as such. Not so fortunate have been the countless hamlets and railway halts that were abandoned when the rail network moved over to diesel-powered transport. Many of these were deliberately demolished or sold to private individuals careless of their historical importance.
Post Offices. The national postal and telecommunication services were privatised in 1991, leaving their historical buildings to the indifferent care of postmen. In 1994 the SAPO took the decision that it did not want to own premises, historical or otherwise, and has since been trying to sell these off, usually without success, leaving some important buildings to the tender cares of vandalised.
Commercial Buildings. Although the banks, building societies and supermarket groups are the third-most important demolishers of the historical environment, in those few and notable cases that a historical building can meet their corporate image, they have a good record of conservation and preservation.
Civic Buildings. These have never been safe from demolition, vandalism and neglect, even under the previous government, but today many of these have been successfully recycled to new functions, and their preservation seems assured.
Residential Buildings. These form the common matrix that constitutes a historical environment, and are probably the most vulnerable class of buildings in need of protection. Regrettably the 60-year clause has failed to preserve them from careless alteration, and little work is being done by local and national governments to create a “conservation” environment.
Industrial Buildings. Very little conservation of industrial buildings is currently taking place and I know of no school of archaeology in South Africa which is looking at the subject specifically.
Military. Although the Military have left a large legacy of fine buildings behind them, mostly erected by the Royal Engineers, no attempts are currently being made to integrate these structures into a national plan for tourism and conservation. Individual buildings have been declared national monuments but the majority have largely been left undeclared and unattended.
Burial Grounds. Barring the exception of war graves from the two Anglo-Dutch Wars, which have their own following of researchers and are thus well documented and looked after, most South African burial grounds have been left to the depredations of Satanist lunatics and vandals. In most cases metal work has been stolen and sold for scrap, and only in those cases where the community concerned has made specific arrangements for their upkeep, have any efforts at conservation been made. A notable example has been the Jewish community who have been able to set aside funds for maintenance even in those towns where no Jewish families are left.
d. Early Union and Georgian architecture. The most notable examples of this genre, usually government buildings, banks and commercial premises, have largely survived and are currently being recycled into new functions.
e. Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture. Both these styles are currently riding a crest of interest through an international revivalist movement, and although some notable buildings were lost to demolition during the 1980s, many still survive and urban centres such as Cape Town, Durban, Boksburg and Johannesburg still have a wealth of examples to show.
f. Modern Movement. Virtually no buildings of this genre have ever been declared as national monuments, and despite bordering on the 60-year clause, many are being lost on a daily basis.
g. Indigenous Architecture. I have left this category to the very last, as here lies the true tragedy of the conservation movement in South Africa. The loss of these buildings for any number of different reasons is indescribable, and despite their potential to draw tourists to the country for a genuine “out-of-Africa” experience, I do not know of a single example that has ever been protected from demolition. The most notable victims have been:
The highveld homes of the South Sotho. Until 1994 these could be commonly found in the area previously known as the southern Transvaal and the northern Orange Free State. Since then growing fears by white farmers that their land could be distributed to their workers has led them to force their black workers off the farms and into homes in urban centres, up to 50km away. Without their presence almost all of these picturesque homes have been lost.
Ndebele painted dwellings. Growing urbanisation of this group and a greater degree of affluence has led to the destruction of many of these formerly attractive homes.
Zulu hemispherical grass dwellings. These began to disappear during the 1950s when a growing shortage of suitable grasses for their construction began to influence the choice of dwelling form.
Transkei dwellings and wall decoration. In 1986 some 106 different styles of wall decoration were recorded in one area of the Transkei alone. In 1994 a follow-up survey found that only 4 survived. Also important has been the availability of commercial furniture which has persuaded many Transkeian home builders to switch from the old circular plan to a square form.
Northern Cape Tswana dwellings and settlements. The Northern Cape is an arid region where suitable grasses for thatching are seldom found. In 1994 extensive flooding in this area brought the indigenous tradition of construction to an end and many of these fine homes have now been replaced by small two-roomed mass-produced government cottages.
The only exception to the rule appears to be the hillside villages of the Venda, located in the far north of the country, alongside the border with Zimbabwe. There a strong tribal tradition survives under the leadership of local clan chiefs and headmen, and many of these villages have been repaired and maintained over the past 20 years. However this is unique, and unlike other areas in the country, do not appear to fall under the undoubted influence of uncontrolled urban development.
CONCLUSIONS
Some years ago my mother asked me “But what is there about this local culture that is so important that you spend so much time trying to preserve it?” I showed her some of these pictures and she just looked at me, shook her head and said “poveretti”, meaning “is that all they have?” It would be very easy for us as Italians, as Europeans, surrounded by the wonders of a material culture which goes back thousands of years, to dismiss achievements which hardly span two hundred years. Not so easy though, would be to dismiss the fact that human settlement in southern Africa precedes that of Europe by at least 70,000 years, that DNA has shown that Africa is the cradle of humanity, and that, until 1350, southern Africa was the home of indigenous cultures every bit as developed and as complex as those of Medieval Europe at that time.
Perhaps we need to recognise that Africa is a source of material culture which, until a few generations ago, remained little touched by time, and is still able to provide us, as architects, with insights into those basic principles of the built environment which Europe has long lost beneath an avalanche of competing nationalisms and their aesthetic propaganda. In the same way that Laugier admonished us in 1727 never to lose sight of the humble hut, so then we should use Africa as a resource, to show what is important about our own architecture. Plinius has stated that “Ex Africa semper aliquid novi”, and perhaps we need to recognise that it is only through a reflection of ourselves that we can find the true value of our own achievements. That, and the fact that African ingenuity can always be counted upon to give a new perspective on what has become, for us, the old and the comfortable.
POSTSCRIPT
This was the last of a series of four lectures on the subject of Culture in Transition in South Africa, delivered to the Faculty of Architecture and Society, Campus Leonardo, at the Politecnico of Milano, Italy, on 15 May 2007, and was entitled Problemi di Conservazione del Patrimonio Storico-Tradizionale e dei Beni Culturali del Sud-Africa nell’Epoca Contemporanea Post-Apartheid. It has been reproduced here in both Italian and English for the benefit of Italian-speaking students who attended the course. I am grateful to Prof Santa Nipoti, of Bologna who, not only did the bulk of this translation, but also put forward a number of positive suggestions aimed at making these ideas more comprehensible to an Italian audience.