READER LETTER | Heritage desecrated by incompetence, neglect

Preserving our history and heritage is of utmost importance for future generations. Therefore, the DA demands that the Gauteng MEC for sport, arts, culture and recreation, Morakane Mosupye, urgently outlines a plan to turn this department around.

This is because the department, which is mandated to ensure that our history is preserved, will surrender R115m to the provincial treasury. This results from the department’s lack of planning and prioritising of our heritage sites, negatively impacting service delivery to residents.

During the oversight inspections of our heritage sites across the province, we discovered that the Women’s Living Heritage Monument in Tshwane, the Kagiso Memorial and provincial archives are dysfunctional. In addition, the high vacancy rate in this department is also negatively impacting on it delivering on its core mandate.

It is high time residents have full access to all our heritage sites in this province, as this will grow our tourism sector and create employment opportunities. Premier Panyaza Lesufi, in his state of the province address, states that they have initiated a process to build a soccer museum within the FNB precinct. While we welcome this initiative, we propose that the focus must be on maintaining the existing heritage sites and ensuring they are fully operational before taking on new projects that will not be completed on time and within budget.

The DA will not allow our history and heritage to be desecrated through incompetence and neglect.

Kingsol Chabalala, DA member of provincial legislature