Political Traditions of the Eastern Cape

Chris Hani District Municipality Liberation Heritage Route

Chris Hani DM Liberation Heritage Route The Chris Hani District Municipality, based in Queenstown and comprising eight Local Municipalities, advertised a tender in September 2007 requesting research assistance preparatory to setting up a Liberation Heritage Route in their area. The Route is a joint initiative of the National Heritage Council, the Eastern Cape Department of Arts and Culture, and the Nelson Mandela National Museum.

It is concerned with both cultural and economic aspects of heritage, seeking to preserve heritage sites as part of national memory and identity but also to translate the wealth of heritage resources into economic capital by means of tourism and other developmental activities. The Chris Hani DM component of the Liberation Heritage Route will link to similar routes in the other DM areas of the province, and ultimately to a proposed National Liberation Heritage Route. It is proposed to nominate the South African National Liberation Heritage Route as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and care is being taken that the Route complies with UNESCO standards.Specific deliverables requested in the tender included the description of all heritage sites within the CHDM area, not only Liberation Heritage sites.

The collection of oral information, the identification of relevant written information, the composition of interpretive texts for prioritized key sites, and the development of a marketing and tourism strategy were also needed.The Rhodes tender submission envisaged two principal researchers assisted by a team of eight Community Facilitators, one from each of the eight Local Municipalities of CHDM, each LM also nominating its own Steering Committee to guide the process. This combination would hopefully integrate academic and community concerns and knowledges, and ensure a product which is both intellectually reputable and locally relevant.

ISER was able to secure the participation of Honorary Professor Jeff Peires, who had been a senior provincial official in Queenstown for more than eight years in addition to his experience as a historian. The other principal researcher is Mr Vuyani Mqingwana, a former research associate of ISER and a former chairperson of the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Agency (PHRA). Researchers: Jeff Peires (ISER) and Vuyani Mqingwana (Walter Sisulu University). Heritage Route Guide design and photographs: Katie Farrington