Abstract

BOSWELL, Rosabelle. Legislating marine intangible cultural heritage in South Africa. Law democr. Dev. [online]. 2023, vol.27, pp.491-515. ISSN 2077-4907.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2077-4907/2023/ldd.v27.19.

South Africa is a developing country where there is insufficient conservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. In this article, it is argued that the adequate conservation of both forms of heritage is important to the realisation of democracy. A long history of colonisation and apartheid means that the identification and conservation of indigenous heritages is lacking. This article proposes that the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999 (NAHRA), which provides for the recognition and protection of cultural heritage, including living heritage, also insufficiently provides for marine intangible cultural heritage (MICH) in South Africa. The remedy, however, is not simply to amend NAHRA but to attend to deeper problems of exclusion in South Africa and amend associated legislation. The insufficiencies in NAHRA reflect historical exclusions and colonialism in South Africa, a situation with important implications for communities under pressure to accept new strategies for ocean development. A major argument in the article is the importance of MICH to cultural rights in South Africa and the role of less visible and less vocal stakeholder groups in oceans' management processes. The article notes the presence of environmental holism among indigenes and a dynamic intangible heritage in South Africa. It advances the significance of humanised approaches to heritage and ocean management in South Africa.

Keywords : intangible cultural heritage; National Heritage Resources Act; Protected Areas Act; Integrated Coastal Management Act; Eastern Cape; South Africa.

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