South Africa’s rich heritage in terms of its different cultures and languages needs spaces where it can be practised, experienced and celebrated. A grandmother teaching a child her home language needs somewhere for that language to live beyond the kitchen table. A community needs places where its stories can be told and heard. This Heritage Month, South Africa should ask what happens to that cultural inheritance when municipalities allow the library to deteriorate, the community hall to become unusable and open spaces, such as parks and playgrounds, to become too neglected for people to gather.

With local government elections approaching, our heritage and what is needed to protect and promote it belong in the conversation about municipal performance. Decisions made in council chambers today will affect the next generation’s cultural and linguistic experience. They also affect whether South Africans of all ages can enjoy and share their heritage now.

What the Constitution protects

Sections 30 and 31 protect participation in cultural life, the use of language and the ability of communities to sustain their associations, consistently with the Bill of Rights. These protections make room for different identities within a shared democracy. No community should have to surrender its identity to belong.

Thirty years after the adoption of the Constitution in 1996, these protections should be reflected in the places communities use every day. Maintaining those places helps people exercise rights that belong to everyone.

Section 152 gives municipalities responsibilities that help make community life possible: sustainable services, development, a healthy environment and public involvement. Section 153 requires municipal planning and budgets to prioritise basic community needs. Cultural freedom becomes harder to exercise when the places supporting it are neglected.

Responsibilities must be understood accurately. Under Schedule 5, libraries and museums other than national institutions fall within provincial competence, although municipalities often operate facilities under relevant arrangements. Municipalities have their own responsibilities for local amenities, parks and public places. Residents deserve clear answers about who must fund, maintain and repair each facility.

How neglect impoverishes our inheritance

At the Birchleigh Library auditorium in Ekurhuleni, leaks and damp were making community activities difficult by August. The city said repairs could resume that month once approvals were finalised. Residents deserve clear feedback on whether those repairs have resumed. A hall’s value lies in the people who can safely use it.

For a young person without a quiet room or affordable internet, a functioning library can support both learning and participation in community life. For older residents, it can offer access to books in their home languages and a place to share knowledge. A neglected hall can deprive artists of rehearsal space and communities of a venue for cultural gatherings. These failures narrow the opportunities through which heritage is sustained and renewed.

Make heritage part of everyday delivery

In George, the YearBeyond library programme offers a practical example: unemployed young people were placed in five libraries to support reading, activities and digital assistance. Such partnerships give participants experience while helping others learn. They show how young people can contribute to public spaces that serve the wider community.

Councils and provincial departments should publish maintenance responsibilities, funded repair schedules and progress reports for public cultural facilities. Access should be affordable, welcoming across languages and suitable for people with disabilities. Residents of all generations should help shape programmes, including oral histories and performances that reflect communities whose experiences have received too little recognition.

Bringing older and younger residents together to record local stories, share languages and practise cultural traditions would give practical meaning to passing heritage on. Libraries and community halls can support this exchange throughout the year, provided they have the staff, resources and reliable opening hours to welcome the people they serve.

Community partnerships can contribute skills and energy, but public authorities must remain answerable for their obligations. Volunteers cannot be expected to carry the cost of chronic government failure.

Municipalities should consult the people who use these facilities about their needs and explain how maintenance and programming decisions respond to them. Which neglected facilities will receive attention? Where is the maintenance budget? How will residents track delivery? Councils should explain what they can deliver and where provincial cooperation is needed. Heritage Month offers an opportunity to make these commitments visible and to report on progress beyond September.

Heritage Month asks what we value enough to pass on to the next generation. Our answer should be visible in the places where all South Africans can learn, create and belong, and where older and younger generations can share the heritage entrusted to them.

For more on this topic read: Celebrating Heritage Month: Honouring Our Cultural and Linguistic Richness – https://fwdeklerk.org/celebrating-heritage-month-honouring-our-cultural-and-linguistic-richness/