GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The Heritage Society, in collaboration with the Reinet Trust, held an information meeting at the Drostdy Hotel on Wednesday 2 March.

Johan Bouwer of the Reinet Trust had approached the Heritage Society with a suggestion that the two organisations work together on a project. 

High on the Heritage Society's wish list was the desire for an information evening with a range of stakeholders engaged with the Graaff-Reinet's built environment.

Sixty people attended, including estate agents, building contractors, municipal officials, technical staff and members of the Heritage Society. 

Held outdoors the atmosphere was relaxed. Koos Grobbelaar, the Heritage Society Chairperson welcomed the guests who were entertained by several local historians.

Johan Minnaar's illustrated talk demon-strated the scope and wonders of Graaff-Reinet's built environment and provided pointers illustrating how ill-informed decision-making can lead to conservation blunders. 

He noted that tourism is an important booster for economic development with historic buildings contributing significantly.

Secretary Peter Whitlock then provided a brief history of the Heritage Society, founded in 1975 in response to the destruction of many significant sites. He thanked Eira Maasdorp and Ann Murray for their perseverance and passion "at a time when heritage conservation was deeply unfashionable" and their organisation often referred to as the "hysterical society." 

Whitlock noted that legally all local authorities should be equipped to manage their heritage resources, but as "the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality does not currently have this competency the Heritage Society assists with applications following a long-standing understanding through the so-called Aesthetics Committee of the Society". 

Whitlock then outlined the processes of local heritage management. Anziske Kayster compare her and Wilmarie Spence's Facebook page, The Graaff-Reinet History Page, to modern-day scrapbooking. She encouraged people to visit the page and to contribute their histories. 

"I want to use this page to share people's history and especially their heritage in the hope that we, somewhere in the current political climate marked by growing polarization, can cultivate respect, insight and a tolerance for each other's heritage."

Then-mayor Ewald Loock, first shocked, then wowed the crowd when he declared, "I don't like tourism …… I love tourism. And heritage is one of the biggest parts of tourism."

He highlighted uMasizakhe as a tourism destination: "The houses there are beautiful and old but very interesting" and made the point that "heritage is not only about buildings, it is also about people".

He noted that the Sobukwe Museum in uMasizakhe will soon be opened to the public and must be integrated into the town's heritage tourism offerings. Johan Bouwer closed the evening, with all present acknowledging it as a resounding success.

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