Amafa aKwaZulu-Natali (Zulu for 'Heritage KwaZulu-Natal'), commonly known as 'Amafa', is a

provincial heritage resources authority A provincial heritage resources authority (PHRA) ( phonetic pronunciation: prɑː) is a government agency established at provincial level in South Africa and is responsible for the management of immovable heritage (i.e., places enjoying protectio ...

in terms of South Africa's National Heritage Resources Act. It was established in 1997 in terms of the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act of that year and is an agency of the Office of the Premier of the government of the

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

Province of South Africa. It is also a 'public entity' under the terms of the Public Finance Management Act. It is mandated to care for that part of South Africa's national estate that is of provincial and local significance in

. Amafa is the oldest heritage resources authority in South Africa, all others being established in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999 or, in the Northern Cape, under provincial legislation that post dates the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act of 1997. Amafa is best known as the custodian of approximately 300 provincial landmarks and heritage landmarks in the province, and several sites at which it manages interpretative centres.

History

Amafa is the successor body to the National Monuments Council in the former

Natal Province The Province of Natal (), commonly called Natal, was a province of South Africa from May 1910 until May 1994. Its capital was Pietermaritzburg. During this period rural areas inhabited by the black African population of Natal were organized into ...

and KwaZulu Monuments Council in the former

KwaZulu KwaZulu was a semi-independent bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a homeland for the Zulu people. The capital was moved from Nongoma to Ulundi in 1980. It was led until its abolition in 1994 by Chief Mangosuthu ...

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...

or homeland, in South Africa. Under the 1996

Constitution of South Africa The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Gov ...

, cultural matters are a competency shared between national and provincial government. This necessitated the creation of a system whereby many of the responsibilities of former monuments authorities were devolved to provincial level via the National Heritage Resources Act. Provinces may pass their own heritage resources legislation and KwaZulu-Natal is one of only two that has chosen that route rather than to use provisions of the National Heritage Resources Act to establish a provincial heritage resources authority (PHRA). Part of the reason for this is that the first KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act (1997) predates the National Heritage Resources Act (1999) and that there was no national framework for heritage at the time that the province resolved to establish its PHRA. The 1997 Act was replaced in 2008 by a new act of the same name. The logo of the organisation is the one formerly used by the KwaZulu Monuments Council.

Chairpersons of council

* 1997 – 2013: Mr Arthur Konigkramer * 2013–Present Mr. J. Sithole

Chief executive officers

* 1997 – 2013: Mr Barry Marshall

SAHRA and Amafa's mandate

Amafa is subject to a biennial assessment of competency by the

South African Heritage Resources Agency The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) is the national administrative body responsible for the protection of South Africa's cultural heritage. It was established through the ''National Heritage Resources Act, number 25 of 1999'' and ...

, SAHRA in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act. This process determines which aspects of the national estate it is qualified to implement. It has been assessed as competent to deal with all areas over which a provincial heritage resources authority is permitted to act.

Heritage resources for which Amafa is responsible

In terms of the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act Amafa is responsible for a range of heritage resources.

Specially protected sites

Amafa inherited responsibility for former national monuments and KwaZulu monuments in the province. These are now known as 'specially protected heritage resources' and are provincial landmarks, if state-owned, or heritage landmarks, if privately owned. These terms equate with the term provincial heritage site used by the National Heritage Resources Act and hence all other provincial heritage resources authorities in South Africa. At present there are around 300 such sites in the province . Most specially protected sites must be declared by publication of a notice in the Provincial Gazette, but graves of members of the Zulu royal family, and battlefields and public monuments and memorials listed in the Schedule to the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act are automatically protected in the same way as a Heritage Landmark. The organisation continues to declare new sites on a regular basis.

General protections

The following are protected without the need to be specifically identified and declared in terms of the Act. * Structures older than 60 years * Graves of victims of conflict * Traditional burial places * Battlefields * Archaeological sites * Palaeontological sites * Rock art sites * Historic fortifications * Meteorites and meteorite impact sites

Heritage objects

Amafa may also protect moveable heritage as Heritage Objects by publication of a notice in the Provincial Gazette

Museums and interpretation centres

Amafa is unique amongst provincial heritage resources authorities in South Africa in that it also runs a museum and several interpretive centres at sites which it manages: . *KwaZulu Cultural Museum, Ondini, Ulundi. The museum is the former museum of the

and illustrates the culture of the Zulu people. Ondini also includes the site of the capital of the Zulu King

Cetshwayo kaMpande King Cetshwayo kaMpande (; ; 1826 – 8 February 1884) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1879 and its Commander in Chief during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been transliterated as Cetawayo, Cetewayo, Cetywajo and Ketch ...

. * Mgungundlovu, the site of the capital of Zulu King

Dingane kaSenzangakhona Dingane ka Senzangakhona Zulu (–29 January 1840), commonly referred to as Dingane or Dingaan, was a Zulu chief who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828, after assassinating his brother Shaka. He set up his royal capital, uMgungundlovu, ...

. *

KwaDukuza KwaDukuza is a municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates small towns such as Stanger, Balito, Shaka's Kraal, but the Zulu people in the area called it "Dukuza" well before ...

, site of the assassination of Zulu King

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...

. *

Isandlwana Isandlwana () (older spelling ''Isandhlwana'', also sometimes seen as ''Isandula'') is an isolated hill in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It is located north by northwest of Durban. The name is said to mean abomasum, the second st ...

Battlefield * Rorkes Drift – Shiyane Battlefield *

Spioenkop Spion Kop ( , ; af, Spioenkop, ) is a mountain in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is located near the town of Ladysmith, 27 km to the WSW and about 2.5 km to the north of the Spioenkop Dam, a reservoir for the waters ...

Battlefield *

Border Cave Border Cave is a rock shelter on the western scarp of the Lebombo Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal near the border between South Africa and Eswatini. Border Cave has a remarkably continuous stratigraphic record of occupation spanning about 200 ka. ...

Rock Shelter Stone Age site * Kamberg Rock Art Centre

Council and committees

Amafa is governed by a council appointed by members of the executive council of the province responsible for its functions. Presently that is the provincial Premier. It is appointed for a three-year term of office. . The council has established a number of committees which meet regularly to implement the responsibilities of the organisation. These include the following: . * Executive * Human resources * Museum * Built environment * Permit review committee for archaeology

Staff complement

Amafa employs a staff complement of around 100. They are under the authority of the chief executive officer.p. 96, Amafa Akwazulu Natali/Heritage Kwazulu-Natal Annual Report 2009/2010, Ulundi: Amafa aKwaZulu-Natali, 2010

Funding

Amafa receives an annual transfer payment from the

premier's department. This, together with earnings from application fees and income generated by the sites which it manages, covers its operational costs.

Offices

Amafa has offices at the KwaZulu Cultural Museum, King Cetshwayo Highway, Ondini, Ulundi (28.19.11.33S 31.27.33.75E) and the Old YMCA Building, Cnr Langalibalele and Buchanan Streets, Pietermaritzburg (29.36.16.46S 30.22.39.42.E)

Literature

* KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act (Act No. 10 of 1997) * KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act, Act No.4 of 2008, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Gazette 225 of 12 February 2009 * http://www.dac.gov.za/acts/a25-99.pdf * Annual Report – 2009-2010 * National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999, Government Notice 506, Republic of South Africa Government Gazette, Vol. 406, No 19974, Cape Town, 28 April 1999 *

List of heritage sites in KwaZulu-Natal This is a list of the heritage sites in KwaZulu-Natal as recognized by the South African Heritage Resource Agency. For performance reasons, the following district has been split off from this page: * List of heritage sites in Pietermaritzburg ...

References

External links

Website of the South African Heritage Resources Agency
{{Authority control South African heritage resources South African heritage sites Heritage registers in South Africa Monuments and memorials in South Africa Buildings and structures in the Western Cape Paleontological sites of Africa Paleoanthropological sites Archaeological sites in South Africa Heritage organizations History organisations based in South Africa +