{"id":855164,"date":"2026-03-28T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=855164"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:42:34","slug":"important-heritage-site-in-south-africa-left-to-rot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/855164\/important-heritage-site-in-south-africa-left-to-rot\/","title":{"rendered":"Important heritage site in South Africa left to rot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sharpeville township is an indelible part of South Africa\u2019s history. It is the site where, in 1960,\u00a0at least 91 people\u00a0were massacred for protesting against the apartheid pass laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the official memorials show signs of neglect, the roads are potholed, and there are numerous eyesores. Earlier this week, residents blocked the main road with burning tyres because some areas had not had electricity for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid this, some local activists are stepping up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithout Sharpeville, its people and its history, I am nothing,\u201d says Modisane Mabale, a performing artist and community activist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through his initiative, Street Arts Government, he is reclaiming abandoned and vandalised spaces, turning places once plagued by sewage spills and illegal dumping into community hubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such space \u2013 two rooms in a derelict apartheid hostel \u2013 has been transformed into a performance venue. \u201cThere is no electricity in this area, but we make do,\u201d says Mabale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes communities should \u201cnot wait for the government\u201d, and community-led action is more effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another community initiative is driven by Thabiso Moletsane, who founded the Innovative Social Movement as a non-profit organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moletsane chose to remain in Sharpeville after completing his social science degree, focusing on young people who dropped out of school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says he remembers how the Sharpeville community stepped in to help him when times were tough. He was raised by his grandmother after he was orphaned as an infant, and his early life was marked by poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His organisation provides training in skills such as baking and sewing through Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) accredited programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearby, the\u00a0Kitso Information Development Centre\u00a0\u2014 housed in the former notorious police station \u2014 provides daily meals to over 300 people and runs free training in robotics, coding and electrical training, accredited through institutions such as the Vaal University of Technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is supported by the Gauteng Department of Social Development. Tshepo Makhumele, who works at the centre, says much of the produce for the meals comes from the centre\u2019s vegetable garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs of neglect<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Photo: Seth Thorne<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

But just a short distance away, the Sharpeville Exhibition Centre and the Garden of Remembrance \u2013 where victims of the 1960 massacre are honoured \u2013 are showing signs of deterioration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bright murals celebrating 20 years of democracy and Oliver Tambo contrast sharply with the cracked walls, peeling paint and general neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opened in 2002 and declared a heritage site in 2011, the site now has faded signage and a non-functioning fountain. Inside the museum, some displays are damaged or have fallen, and we found no guide to assist visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a huge problem with that, as many people visit, and do not truly understand what they are witnessing. It happens all the time,\u201d said Mabale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dambile Ndaba, a Sharpeville resident and community worker, said the current condition of the memorial site does not do justice to the \u201cdeceased heroes\u201d of 1960.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interest in Sharpeville peaks on Human Rights Day with municipal interventions Mabale describes as \u201cwindow dressing\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efforts are often focused on main roads used by officials, while longstanding issues in the township remain neglected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the government should do is engage with the community of Sharpeville, Heritage Organisation, the Victims and Saviour Families, and appoint the relevant people that will educate and keep the heritage and the spirit of Sharpeville massacre alive,\u201d said Ndaba. \u201cWe live with their spirits every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sedibeng District Municipality, responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the museum, did not respond to our questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2010, the municipality awarded a contract of over\u00a0R9 million\u00a0to construction companies to upgrade the Exhibition Centre and its Garden of Remembrance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharpeville is located within the failing Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM), which was placed under provincial administration back in 2018 due to financial mismanagement and high debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Auditor-General\u2019s\u00a0most-recent\u00a0assessment, ELM has 91% bad debt (unlikely to be recoverable). The municipality had R836 million in lost water, about 62% of all water flowing through municipal pipelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emfuleni municipality did not respond to GroundUp’s queries for comment. <\/p>\n\n\n

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A burnt sign at the Sharpeville Memorial (Source: Seth Thorne)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

This article was written by Seth Thorne for GroundUp and was republished with permission. Read the original here<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sharpeville Exhibition Centre and Garden of Remembrance are showing signs of neglect despite the area’s historical importance. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":855170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[10919],"class_list":["post-855164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-groundup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855164"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":855175,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855164\/revisions\/855175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}