Cape Town - The Western Cape National Heritage Council has confirmed it has received an application to declare Bo-Kaap a heritage site.
The ANC Youth League Western Cape on Wednesday hand-delivered a nomination to Heritage Western Cape for Cape Town’s historic Bo-Kaap to be declared a provincial heritage site. The league lodged an application with the heritage council on Tuesday.
“The youth league believes that the people of Bo-Kaap are justified in their outrage at the continued ignorance and blind pro-developer bias of the DA government. The call for Bo-Kaap to be made a provincial heritage site is long overdue,” said ANC provincial chairperson Muhammad Khalid Sayed. He said the recent protests in the area had prompted the ANCYL to urgently do something.
“With so much historical value and character, it is only wilful ignorance that cannot accede to the necessity for all of us to echo the call to make the Bo-Kaap a provincial heritage site.
"Our nomination calls for the provisional protection of Bo-Kaap in terms of section 29 of the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999. No rezoning or construction should take place while a heritage impact assessment is being conducted,” Sayed said.
The chief executive of Heritage Western Cape, Dr Mxolisi Dlamuka, said: “It will then follow normal processes of Heritage Western Cape. We are not aware of any political influence to block the heritage process.”
The decision to declare Bo-Kaap a heritage area has been marred by allegations of political interference. It has emerged that former mayor Patricia de Lille allegedly prevented Bo-Kaap from being declared a heritage area. The allegation surfaced in the law firm Bowmans’ report into maladministration at the City.
@MarvinCharles17