Heritage Management
Professional guidelines
Cave survey at Makapans, photograph by AB Esterhuysen, University of the Witwatersrand
An introduction to cultural resource and heritage management (CRM)
South Africa has a unique and non-renewable archaeological heritage that spans the entire spectrum of human evolution and social development on the planet. Within this heritage is the finite and irreplaceable evidence of human activities, settlement and lifestyle spanning from recent history to more than 2-million years ago.
Many heritage sites are threatened daily by development, negligence and ignorance. The environmental and heritage legislation requires that all heritage resources are protected – all places or objects of aesthetic, architectural, historical, scientific, social, spiritual, linguistic or technological value or significance.
In the face of development activities the law provides a mechanism for the identification, assessment, or protection of these heritage resources.
In South Africa, archaeological and palaeontological sites, burial grounds and grave sites are protected in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act (Act No 25 of 1999) and may not be disturbed, in any way at all, without a permit from the relevant heritage resources authority. Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have equivalent legislation that makes similar demands to protect their national heritage.
The legislation means that developers and people managing land that contains cultural heritage must employ qualified professionals to identify and mitigate harm to such sites. Experience has shown that early assessment and mitigation minimise the negative effects of development on sites, as well as, very often, saving the developer considerable delays and related costs. Furthermore, CRM work has enhanced the interest and scope of certain kinds of development activities, and provided a massive boost to the existing body of knowledge about the National Estate of the SADC countries.