John Dube’s house
Most of the work we do is focused on intangible heritage – indigenous knowledge, oral history, etc. – but we do occasionally work out in the field. On a recent trip to Inanda, I was amazed at the state of disrepair of some of the heritage buildings there, in particular John Dube’s house. The roof is falling down and was meant to be repaired (by ‘government’) two years ago, when the family were moved into temporary accommodation on the property.
Other buildings which are in desperate need of restoring, and would add value to the burgeoning tourism industry in Inanda, are the iron and wood structures in the Gumede family homestead. These buildings housed the first doctor’s surgery and post office in the area.
This is not my area of expertise but I would be interested in hearing from anyone who works with heritage and the built environment to get their opinion on the situation in the province and possibly even the country.
I gather that these are designated heritage sites and yet they are not maintained? Do you know which institution is responsible for their maintenance?
Well, actually just the Dube house. The others have still not been designated as heritage sites.