A Pandora’s Box: Indigenous Voices in Heritage Management Within the Mapungubwe and Makgabeng Cultural Landscapes in South Africa

Introduction

In many postcolonial countries, authorized heritage discourse (AHD) still drives heritage practice (Smith & Waterton, 2012). Laurajane Smith defines AHD as the dominant Western discourse about heritage which focuses on (physical) things and is dominated by notions of monumentality and aesthetics (Smith, 2006, p. 4). By being ‘things-centred’, state-based heritage management tends to be exclusionary and not accommodative of indigenous input from local communities. Unfortunately, the exclusion of indigenous communities’ perspectives creates a palpable sense of loss that is felt when one zooms into heritage inventories, as well as heritage management philosophies, approaches and presentations (Chirikure & Pwiti, 2008; Jopela, 2023; Ndlovu, 2009; Ndoro, 2001). However, decolonizing heritage management, though necessary, is not always straightforward and easy. In this article, we explore how indigenous voices and collective memory (or indigenous knowledges) could inform professional heritage management in South Africa. Additionally, we explore the missed opportunities when heritage management was modernized and entrenched in state systems in South Africa and how the difficult task of incorporating indigenous voices in the heritage management system could be done.

In much of Africa, heritage and archaeology are disciplines with several concepts that remain etched in foreign (Western) concepts (De Cesari, 2010). Western notions of heritage are often skewed in favour of fancy objects of knowledge and aesthetic pleasure at the expense of others (Choay, 2001). This focus is detrimental to indigenous perceptions of heritage that focus on ritual and spiritual engagements (Ndlovu, 2009; Smith, 2006). While Smith (2015) posits that all heritage should be understood and appreciated as immaterial and intangible, many now agree that African heritage from non-literate societies is embedded in indigenous knowledge systems, in which the past is stored and shared through names, songs, poems, totemism, rituals/taboos, storytelling, landscape/memory mapping, folklore, traditional rites, heroism, sacrifices, negotiations and games (Pwiti & Ndoro, 1999). It is clearly not always possible to retrieve all these, but the exclusion of indigenous perspectives only impoverishes the reader.

The present study attempts to retrieve some of these indigenous forms of heritage to relate them to the state-based heritage statuses of the Mapungubwe and Makgabeng cultural landscapes in northern South Africa. These areas were chosen because they both have long histories of archaeological research and heritage management (Manetsi, 2023; Ndlovu, 2009).

The history of heritage management in South Africa, in general and the areas of study, in particular, is very telling. Archaeology was conceived at the height of prejudiced European colonial expansion, making it easier to overlook local African expressions while imposing foreign views and methods (Atalay, 2019; Manetsi, 2023; Williamson, 2020). Colonial and apartheid regimes in South Africa tightly controlled archaeological practices and heritage management (Tiley-Nel, 2018). During this period, indigenous people were often seen merely as labourers, and their contributions were disregarded (Manetsi, 2023; Ndlovu, 2009). Research findings, including those from Mapungubwe, were published in Afrikaans, a language that excluded non-Afrikaans speakers, such as indigenous and English-speaking communities (Tiley-Nel, 2018). Additionally, archaeologists sometimes concealed information about research sites to protect them from perceived threats (Marshall, 2002; Ndoro & Pwiti, 2001; Shepherd, 2003).

The apartheid expropriation of archaeological sites such as Mapungubwe by the state excluded and denied access to indigenous people who had an interest in the sites (Ndlovu, 2009; Tiley-Nel, 2018). This was compounded by the involvement of the military in the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape during the height of apartheid and made the landscape a no-go area for indigenous people who had an interest in their ancestral sites (Meskell, 2012; Tiley-Nel, 2018). This segregationist philosophy limited indigenous participation in heritage management while commodifying the past for elite consumption (Byrne, 1991; De Cesari, 2010).

The discovery of gold objects at Mapungubwe in the 1930s generated public excitement and led to extensive archaeological expeditions, but South African heritage legislation at the time primarily supported colonial white supremacy and Afrikaner nationalism (Tiley-Nel, 2018). Thus, Mapungubwe Hill became a national treasure, for the colonial regime at a time when indigenous people could not have played any significant role in the research and management of archaeological sites in South Africa (Tiley-Nel, 2018).

Heritage Management in the Post-Apartheid Era

The eventual waning of colonial political power in South Africa did not reverberate to every sector (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2015). To begin with, an unfamiliar political system with entirely new boundaries and mandates than existed prior to colonization, ensued. The heritage sector, which had lost its traditional and localized management systems during colonial times, never regained its precolonial status but continued to be recognized and managed following Western notions adopted under colonial and apartheid rule. However, national and international legislations and conventions became the standard frameworks for engagement and operations (Manetsi, 2023; Seyhan & Russo, 2020). Opportunities for resetting the rules of engagement went begging as these legal frameworks fed off each other. Thus, the South African Heritage Resource Act of 1999 drew a lot of its inspiration from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s approaches for categorizing and prioritizing cultural heritage (Manetsi, 2023; Seyhan & Russo, 2020).

This South African heritage management involves planning by a government authority (South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA) and its provincial agencies) mandated with the responsibility for setting goals and implementation without involvement of stakeholders (Smith, 2006; Seyhan & Russo, 2020). In keeping with state-based approaches that empower the national authorities’ powers to assign heritage perceptual values (Smith, 2006), SAHRA and its Provincial Heritage Resource Agencies (PHRAs) have not yet developed mechanisms to incorporate intangible heritage in their management framework (Jopela, 2023). Additionally, state-based heritage management is problematic as it relies on authority’s power to determine sites’ inclusion, which is influenced by lobbying and voting for its inclusion (Escallón, 2020)

This article argues that South Africa’s archaeological heritage management has largely relied on international and national organizations like SAHRA, causing decisions to be made by authorities rather than indigenous communities (Jopela, 2023). This has led to some heritages being omitted or considered irrelevant (Zhang, 2022). This could be true for the Makgabeng Plateau which, despite the numerous and magnificent rock art sites, took until recently to be nominated for national heritage status by SAHRA.

Despite increased calls for a bottom-up approach in heritage management, its operationalization has yet to be realized (Zhang, 2022). This is probably because many heritage managers and experts often lack the skills for effective community engagement, especially when in situations where communities may have conflicting agendas and interests (Chirikure & Pwiti, 2008; Holtorf, 2006; Jopela, 2023; Jopela, & Fredriksen, 2015; Mosheneka & Dhanjal, 2001; Pikirayi & Schmidt, 2016). All the same, Jopela and Fredriksen (2015) argue that undermining and sideling community input because of complex and competing interests is not the solution. There is a need to open the pandora’s box and explore ways to reconcile Western notions of heritage management with indigenous perspectives. For example, SANParks has made efforts to involve descendant communities in managing Mapungubwe (Mlilo, 2023). Nonetheless, indigenous communities are invited to contribute under existing power structures, without challenging the core issues of such hierarchical management (Zhang, 2022). This article explores the need for deeper integration of indigenous communities in the research, management and presentation of heritage (Watkins, 2005; Watkins & Nicholas, 2014). In the context of heritage, what then is indigeneity and how can this be reconciled with modern state-based heritage management? At the risk of reducing complex notions to monolithic frameworks, indigeneity can be simplified as indigenous understandings and perspectives of archaeological cultural heritage (Ndoro, 2001). The additional caveat to indigenous heritage notions is vested in locating and retrieving the past through non-written forms of the past, such as songs, folklore, poetry and names (Harrison, 2010; Zhang, 2022). Because heritage values are culturally ascribed by particular people at a particular time and for various reasons, heritage management should aspire to connect with indigenous communities (Harrison, 2010; Smith, 2006).

Materials and Methods

The study explores the integration of indigenous knowledge and perspectives on heritage research into the AHD at two case studies in northern South Africa. The chosen cases are Mapungubwe and Makgabeng cultural landscapes.

Case Study 2: Makgabeng Plateau

The Makgabeng Plateau (Figure 1) is located on the western end of the Soutpansberg Mountain Range, southwest of Mapungubwe. The area is approximately 225 km² and has interesting geological phenomena with aeolian sediments dated around 2,000 million years (Eriksson et al., 2000). It was originally inhabited by the Stone Age people before the arrival of Iron Age communities around ce 700 (Smith & Van Schalkwyk, 2002). Ancestors of Later Iron Age groups such as the Venda and Sotho-Tswana groups moved into the area starting around 1200 ce and began creating ‘farmer’ paintings (Northern Sotho rock art). The BaHanawa groups (Sotho-Tswana), who dominated the plateau, trace their roots to the same times (Smith & van Schalkwyk, 2002). Despite the recent (2019) National Heritage status application, Makgabeng remains ungraded. The threat of platinum mining encroaching towards the invaluable heritage led to the provisional protection of the Makgabeng Plateau while the application for grading is in progress.

OPEN IN VIEWER Figure 1.

Location of Area of Study.

Findings

This study investigates how indigenous perspectives could influence research, management and presentation of cultural heritage in South Africa. It compares indigenous forms and systems with contemporary heritage practices. Participants’ personal information was kept confidential as requested.

Discussion

Despite the impact of education, religion, politics, colonialism and apartheid, some local communities maintain distinct indigenous approaches to heritage management. The study found that while indigenous practices involve identifying, interpreting and evaluating heritage through physical artefacts, legends, oral histories and other traditional methods, there is a minimal integration of these perspectives with the practices of heritage professionals. Indigenous knowledge systems emphasize the transmission of heritage management skills through generations, whereas heritage practitioners primarily rely on physical features for site identification and management. The study reveals a limited overlap between indigenous and state-based heritage management approaches (see Figure 2).

OPEN IN VIEWER Figure 2.

Ven Diagram Showing Indigenous and Modern Perspectives of Heritage Management.

Western notions of heritage management primarily focus on physical evidence and scientific techniques, occasionally consulting local guides for initial site identification and tours (Figure 2). However, once sites are identified by local informants, their insights on interpretation and management are often overlooked. For example, after Mokwena guided archaeologists to Mapungubwe, his knowledge of nearby sacred pools was ignored and not included in official records. This approach highlights a gap in modern practices, which fail to fully incorporate intangible heritage and dismiss valuable indigenous perspectives, resulting in a loss of detailed knowledge that oral histories can provide.

Oral histories and praise poetry often feature physical landmarks such as hills, rivers and place names that create a mental map linking to historical aspects. While minor details may change, major landmarks anchor these stories, which should be included in the interpretation of Mapungubwe. Current interpretations focus mainly on physical material culture, neglecting intangible elements of sacred pools, games and recreational activities that were integral to past societies. These aspects are documented in ethnographic archives but are frequently overlooked by academics (Tiley-Nel, 2018).

When compounded with the colonial displacements that left people in unfamiliar relationships, the arrogance of modern practice further negated learning opportunities by privileging current settlement and landownership patterns over historical evictions. Thus, when Mapungubwe was being nominated, white farmers and mining companies who owned the land near the site were the key stakeholders in terms of the South African legislation and the 1972 World Heritage Convention (Masuku Van Damme & Meskell, 2009). Given the history of displacements in the colonial and apartheid eras, indigenous communities in the Makgabeng Plateau have been protecting heritage which is not their own. This is like the Hwesa people in Southeastern Zimbabwe, who confirm that although their ancestors did not build the Zimbabwe Culture stone buildings in their area, the sites are still important as heritage, and thus, they place value on them and how they are managed (Pwiti et al., 2012).

The Makgabeng communities of New Jerusalema and Thabanantlana are now associated (by proximity) with less familiar rock art heritage, making them stakeholders according to the South African heritage legislation. The legitimate authors of the numerous rock art sites are the KhoiSan, who can no longer be traced. The archaeologists and heritage managers’ arrogance of not linking archaeological sites with specific clans only impoverishes the reader because indigenous voices add so much to heritage management processes.

The study revealed that indigenous communities can identify, interpret, evaluate and manage the heritage in the sense of tangible and intangible heritage. Even in instances where indigenous people lack intimate knowledge about certain aspects of heritage, this study has shown the sensitivity of local African people to manifestations of heritage. For instance, the BaHananwa people in Makgabeng confirmed that they do not have clarity on the dating and authorship of most of the rock art sites in the plateau (having been told by the archaeologists about the art’s national importance), but they still have systems in place for their traditional protection. Therefore, the Western thinking that local communities must be separated from heritage places to ensure the preservation of sites is misplaced.

Praise poetry and genealogy are a source of historical knowledge, for example, the narrative by one of the informants. These are some of the knowledge sources that should be incorporated in the Mapungubwe presentation and interpretation.

A cursory assessment would then conclude that nothing is lost by ignoring or inadvertently not consulting on such types of heritage. However, if one is to learn from the Mapungubwe example, where the site survived as ‘clan memory and name’ until its ‘rediscovery’ with the help of clan-members’ guidance, about 700 years later, its value goes beyond the rich gold objects and other materials from archaeological excavations. As such, Western science’s overreliance on one dimension of physical manifestations of heritage leaves much of both the tangible and intangible heritage unexplored.

There are challenges of site grading following formal ways because this excludes their spiritual significance, which is the core of indigenous heritage. Much of indigenous African heritage comes with family/clan/chiefdom/kingdom or regional relevance. Such hierarchies do not necessarily confer a higher grade. For instance, Queen Nandi’s grave is important to the Zulu nation and to the immediate family. The site is a National Heritage Site and open to the public, against the wishes of the family (https://www.snl24.com/dailysun/celebs/nomzamo-angers-shaka-zulus-family-20221027). In this case, the grave’s national (Zulu) significance does not trump the family value. Indeed, in 2022, a group of celebrities in South Africa were chased away from the grave site when they entered the site without asking for permission from the family elders. It also matters who does the grading. Local community participants generally argued that grading of sites must be done by designated clan elders and spirit mediums in accordance with tradition. They argue that visitations to the sites must be sanctioned by indigenous people, not SANParks officials. This tradition is also true for several other African communities in southern Africa (Ndlovu, 2009).

The other quandary of the South African three-tier grading system is its reliance on political boundaries. These boundaries often lack any historical alignment with cultural heritage. Political boundaries and the associated prejudiced policies of alienation dissected cultures into fractions while combining others into ‘rainbow nations’ that did not necessarily have historical connections. Accordingly, heritage experts may end up elevating sites of very little indigenous appreciation or relegating what local communities hold in the highest regard. With relocations, some surviving descendant communities simply cannot remember much about their original area (Mudzamatira, 2019). It is no wonder that the Makgabeng Plateau (with more than a thousand rock art sites and several Late Iron Age sites) has not yet been graded. By comparison, Wonderwerk Cave in the Northern Cape is a Grade 1 heritage site based on a single rock art cave.

The exclusion of communities in site nomination that has been witnessed at places such as Mapungubwe need not be cast in stone. For their part, heritage experts at Mapungubwe have attempted to involve sections of local communities as registered forum groups in terms of biodiversity conservation. The fact that the communities are recognized in terms of biodiversity, not cultural heritage, leaves a lot to be desired. Such attempts have been made successfully in Australia’s Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, where heritage sites that were already recognized for their tangible heritage were reassessed to incorporate social values previously overlooked (Kasiannan, 2011).

The management system in South Africa still needs to be transformed to meet the needs of indigenous people. The use of indigenous knowledge systems has contributed significantly to the management of Tsodilo Hills in Botswana (Parkington, 1999; Thebe, 2003). In this regard, the inclusion of collective memory and indigenous knowledge systems has the potential to contribute to a broader understanding of indigenous heritage and heritage management.

A similar misunderstanding of intangible heritage also occurred at Njelele, a sacred site in Zimbabwe where ICOMOS declined to include it as part of the nomination of the Matobo Cultural Landscape (Makuvaza, 2008; Ndoro & Wijesuriya, 2015). The failure to recognize both sites on the same landscape meant that the rock art found within the Matobo was of far greater value to the world than the rituals and religious values of Njelele, which was considered by some experts as a pagan site.

Our indigenous participants from Mapungubwe lamented that the presentation of the site leaves out some important sites and features which are linked to the landscape. There are sacred pools in the Limpopo River which are important to the indigenous people, such as the Sematla. They also lamented that even the cultural significance of wildlife and geographical features is not presented to the visitors. A quick review of information pamphlets at the Mapungubwe Museum confirmed that wildlife and vegetation are presented from a biological perspective using Latin terms. With indigenous landscape mapping, local communities clearly have significant input in heritage identification.

While the identification and management of tangible heritage have gained remarkable consideration, management of intangible heritage has been lagging (Scheermeyer, 2005). It has taken SAHRA and stakeholders long to develop mechanisms to promote and enforce the inclusion of intangible heritage in the management of heritage in South Africa. It is evident that intangible heritage cannot be promoted without the inclusion of indigenous people in the identification, interpretation and management of cultural heritage. At the national level, the lack of community participation in most places is exacerbated by the fact that the PHRAs and local heritage offices, which are supposed to spearhead this process, are non-functional (Jackson et al., 2019).

Conclusions

The study investigated the relevance of indigenous perspectives in contemporary heritage practices, focusing on case studies from northern South Africa and personal experiences. It aimed to test whether indigenous people still possess crucial heritage-altering information despite historical alienation, colonization and modernization. The research compared indigenous heritage production methods with state-based practices, using South African heritage legislation and the management of key archaeological sites like Mapungubwe and Makgabeng as primary examples.

The literature review indicates that while there is increasing academic interest in decolonizing heritage management, there remains a significant gap in integrating collective memory and indigenous knowledge into heritage management planning. Historical and current heritage legislation in South Africa has largely ignored indigenous input, leading to fragmentation and alienation of communities from their heritage. Qualitative research involving 62 individuals from the Mapungubwe and Makgabeng cultural landscapes revealed that mistrust between heritage professionals and indigenous communities has hindered knowledge sharing (Shabalala & Simatele, 2019; Taruvinga, 2019). This has resulted in a heritage management focus predominantly on tangible aspects, neglecting the valuable insights indigenous perspectives could offer. Incorporating these perspectives could address this imbalance and enhance the significance of sites like Mapungubwe by acknowledging their spiritual and cultural dimensions.