Resistance & Liberation Heritage Route

Resistance & Liberation Heritage Route

The Resistance and Liberation Heritage Route (RLHR) project is a national memory project aimed at commemorating, celebrating, educating, promoting, preserving, conserving and providing a durable testament of South African’s road to independence.

The project draws on heritage as testimony and depiction of South Africa’s journey from the first contact with colonists to the attainment of democracy through a series of connected multi-dimensional sites at the local, provincial, national and international level. This is done in a manner that promotes the values enshrined in the South African Constitution namely; a participatory process of identification and documentation of significant sites, formal protection and management of heritage resources and the interpretation and commemoration of the liberation struggle.

It uses an integrated approach to leverage the potential of resistance and liberation heritage to help demonstrate a shared past and shared future, and tap into the socio-economic potential of this heritage for the benefit of different communities, by harnessing multi-disciplinary strengths of diverse government and other sectors. 

World Heritage Agenda

World Heritage properties are places that are important and belong to everyone in the world, regardless of where they are located. They are an irreplaceable legacy that the global community has decided to protect for the future. South Africa has selected 10 properties they want on the World Heritage List, which means that those properties are recognised by the global community as having special significance that needs to be protected for future generations. The common feature of all properties inscribed on the World Heritage List is that they meet the requirements for Outstanding Universal Value (OUV).

The National Heritage Council, in collaboration with diverse stakeholders, is spearheading the development of the first 10-part serial nomination dossier under the theme of Resistance and Liberation Heritage. The serial property is known as Human Rights, Liberation Struggle and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites. Following years of consultation and robust quality assurance, the completed dossier came before the SA World Heritage Convention Committee on 08 March 2019. A socio-economic study will be added to it and further national engagements on its contents will continue.

What the RLHR Unit does

We coordinate the management of the Liberation Heritage Route, demonstrate the price of freedom and mainstream the Heritage of Resistance and Liberation in all relevant areas of policy, programming, economy and infrastructure.

By participating in the African Liberation Heritage Programme and providing national input in the world heritage agenda, we contribute to the Africa we want and a better world that values the place of Africa’s road to freedom in the search for a better world; while supporting sustainable development goals.

By supporting the commemorative and repatriation events, we keep the living heritage of unsung martyrs, heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle alive to present and future generations.

Cumulatively, this work supports various National Development Plan outcomes including: Social Cohesion; Education; Mainstreaming of Integrated Planning; Sustainable Settlements; Conservation; International Relations; Increased Economic Participation and Infrastructure that Supports Economic Activity.

How South African citizens can become a part of Liberation Heritage

The RLHR seeks to promote the influence of the South African heritage globally. In order to do so, there is a need to involve citizens largely in all liberation heritage programmes and activities.

This will increase the degree of trust to citizens, education and build a network of strategic partnerships to strengthen and integrate heritage development by extending the influence of the National Heritage Council (NHC) and leveraging the resources through partnerships to the NHC. This has been done through supporting a number of commemorative and repatriation events and presentations on LHR made to different stakeholders.

Citizens can continue to propose sites and names of unsung heroes that have relevance to the struggle for freedom up to 27 April 1994. Citizens can also work with existing commemorative sites and programmes to ensure that these are well looked after, and that information is accurate and complete.

Under the guidance of the Integrated Development Plans and Local Economic Development Plans of different municipalities, opportunities for tourism, content production and other forms of socio-economic participation can be explored.

“It is an opportunity to write our history; to embed our liberation heritage in hearts and minds.” – Mr Vusumuzi Mkhize, Director-General: Department of Arts and Culture