In Mondays copy of The Herald, columnist Patrick Cull touched on the issue or our heritage buildings. I wrote the following article in reply and have submitted it for use in either the Herald or Weekend Post. It will be interesting to see if they use it, so it can obtain a wider readership than my few Facebook connections. Anyway, here is the article: Patrick Cull makes some convincing arguments about why Port Elizabeth is facing a crisis of identity when it comes to attracting tourists (“Political will must back tourism”, September 8). But I think there is one key aspect in which his analysis is wrong, and it revolves around the ruling party’s reluctance to embrace our history, both good and bad, and turn it to the city’s advantage. He asks rhetorically why a tourist would choose to visit Nelson Mandela Bay rather than Cape Town or Durban, saying: “Quite bluntly, it is hard to believe that even the most ardent advocate for the city could advance a cogent argument as to why Nelson Mandela Bay should be selected.” Then he adds, falsely in my view, that “The metro has no single distinctive attraction that sets it apart.” I’ll get back to why that is so wrong, but would first endorse his further view that: “What it might have had to offer in terms of heritage, for example, has either been allowed to deteriorate to the point where it is more likely to deter visitors rather than attract them, or is closed and vandalised, as is the case with the Red Location Museum.” The claim that we have “no single distinctive attraction” is belied by almost every overseas tourist who comes to the city. For them it is our unique history, as the meeting point of various cultures, but especially that of white European and black African, that fascinates them. We all know the political ramifications of that, since they are the much publicised and documented issues of colonialism and apartheid. But Port Elizabeth is unique in that in 1820 some 5000 British settlers arrived in Algoa Bay. It was the biggest single settlement of British people in Africa at the time, and those settlers and their descendants, as well as later arrivals, transformed this country. While most were settled initially as farmers in the Albany district, giving rise to such towns as Bathurst and Grahamstown, which at the time was little more than a military outpost, it is in Port Elizabeth that their influence is so clearly evident in a wealth of important heritage buildings and monuments. Indeed, the very fabric of the older parts of the city reflects nearly 200 years of settler influence. And, before the National Party came to power in 1948, much of that influence was increasingly positive as regards the indigenous African people attracted to the town. I am not going to gloss over the impact of the 100 years or so of frontier wars involving first the Afrikaner trekboers and the amaXhosa and then the settlers and the amaXhosa, who naturally opposed the arrival of the settlers. But this was a product of colonisation, when Britain just happened to be the world’s superpower. It spread its tentacles to all corners of the globe, much as the Roman Empire had done on a smaller scale nearly 2000 years earlier and with similar effect. There are parts of Britain where, even today, the impact of 400 years of Roman occupation are still evident. They brought, for instance, the grid concept to town design, and generally were a “civilising” influence, since they were arguably the most advanced and militarily powerful polity at the time. Similarly, wherever Britain colonised countries, it left its mark. All too often uprisings by local communities were brutally suppressed. But the British also spread modernity around the globe, having launched the Industrial Revolution at a time when other countries were more interested in political revolutions. The great innovations like steam-driven trains and railway infrastructure were introduced around the world where Britain was in control. Ditto all the other advances in such things as communication, science, biology, commerce, industry, agriculture. And so a town like Port Elizabeth, named for the wife of Sir Rufane Donkin, acting governor of the Cape who oversaw the arrival of those first settlers, sprang up. Fort Frederick had already been built in 1799, but from the early 1820s buildings of various types started to shape our town. Many of those remain relatively intact. Others have been allowed to crumble, or been renovated in such a way that much of their original character has been lost. The most important example of that is the terrace of houses in Donkin Street, built between 1860 and 1880. That should never have been allowed to happen. Other areas, like the Holy Rosary Convent, are under threat. Very old houses in Constitution Hill are falling apart, or becoming modern townhouses. Cull is correct. The council should establish a heritage asset register as a matter of urgency in conjunction with a group like the Mandela Bay Heritage Trust. These are people with expertise who know just what should be maintained and why, in order for us to retain our unique character as an early frontier town. Indeed, the same should be done across the country, and particularly in the Eastern Cape. Our council should then authorise the Mandela Bay Development Agency to ensure that each and every building or group of buildings that needs to be maintained is maintained and restored. The provincial heritage authorities need to clamp down on developers who have destroyed buildings or “restored” them in such a way that they lose their character. Restoring all that intricate woodwork could actually lead to a spurt of employment creation, since woodworkers and joiners will be required to do the work. But all this, as Cull rightly points out, requires political will. Given our history, is the ANC able to accept that this British colonial heritage is a) a key tourist attraction and b) therefore worth saving? At the moment they seem ambivalent, or outright antagonistic to the idea. But if they were to throw the weight of the black African community (many of whom live in houses built by the relatively progressive Port Elizabeth council in places like New Brighton well before apartheid or in Motherwell during apartheid) behind this effort, we could see our city’s unique features once more become tourism magnets we could feel proud to show our visitors. People can visit any half decent coastal resort to swim in relatively clean surf. But Port Elizabeth is the only place in the world with a pyramid with a love story behind it placed on an open patch of historic ground: the Donkin Reserve. It has several cemeteries where the original settlers and their children lie buried, many of them telling poignant tales of their struggle to survive. It has a horse memorial unlike any other in the world, a Victorian Gothic library that is priceless. Venerable and imposing buildings like the City Hall, Old Post Office and Baakens Street Police Station, the Feather Market Hall, the Pearson Conservatory, No 7 Castle Hill and adjacent heritage buildings, the row of late 19th century houses in Richmond Hill, the many 19th century stone churches which make Central such an important heritage area. Then there is the 1923 Campanile, which marks (a bit belatedly, but money was scarce) the 100th anniversary of the settlers’ arrival. The art museum has a collection of works which show in drawings and paintings the history of our town. The Bayworld museum has a photographic collection which similarly charts that history. The Herald itself, established back in 1845, is a living embodiment of our town’s colourful history. I would urge the Heritage Trust and the council’s political leaders involved in tourism to get together and draw up a heritage asset register and plan of action as soon as possible in order to salvage, restore and package these buildings and memorials as a matter of urgency. We have a far richer history than Durban, and a much more interesting and immediate frontier history than Cape Town. And it is reflected in our cityscape. We also have a hinterland which boasts towns like Graaff-Reinet and Grahamstown where that rich frontier heritage can be built on and expanded. Throw in the many nearby game reserves and our beautiful beaches and you have the perfect package. We need to seize the moment – before it’s too late.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 09:04:34 +0000
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