Gravesof three women activists declared National Heritage Sites

Later this week the spotlight will be on the commemoration of three women activists, Charlotte Maxeke, Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph, as their grave sites have been declared as National Heritage Sites.
The declaration of the three women’s graves is part of a long term project to identify sites of women who made a significant cultural contribution in different spheres of the liberation struggle including the arts, business, politics(inclusive of mass protests and armed combat). As the custodians of our country’s heritage and culture, the Department of Arts Culture and South African Heritage Resource Agency will unveiling the of the graves as National Heritage Sites on 20th of August 2010.

The multi pronged event which will commence with an inter-dominational service at the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto, the procession will then proceed to Avalon Cemetery where Minister Xingwana will unveil the site interpretative plaque and a combined headstone for Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Joseph. The procession will then move to Charlotte Maxeke’s grave in Nancefield Cemetery where the Hon. Minister of Arts and Culture, Lulu Xingwana will unveil the headstone.  The final phase of the ceremony will be at Kliptown’s Walter Sisulu Freedom Square.

“The declaration of the graves of the three women will go a long way in ensuring that our heritage resources are conserved and managed .Instead of being entrenched with the painful memory of the liberation struggle, we should now embrace the era and redevelop symbolic reparative projects as memorials and interpretative centres as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission”, says Sibongile Van Damme, Chief Executive Officer of SAHRA.

In a bid to move away from the role of women in politics being interpreted within a restricted milieu of women’s anti pass campaigns rather than the mainstream politics, the National Heritage Resources Act No.25 of 1999, enables the Minister to nominate and designate graves to form part of the National Estate. This has seen the Minister opening up the process for public engagement in the identification, nomination and management of declared sites associated with the contribution of Women in the liberation struggle at different levels be it local, provincial or national.  Ends

For further information on the South African Heritage Resource agency, please visit http://www.sahra.org.za