Heritage group assesses neglected sites

MBOMBELA – Mpumalanga Heritage (MH), a registered provincial civic conservation group based in Mbombela, recently went to assess the neglect and damage done to the mission museum complex at Botshabelo outside Middelburg.

Some years ago the land on which the complex is situated was granted to a local trust as part of a land claim.

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Though this old Berlin mission station, once a pristinely restored, living museum town similar to Pilgrim’s Rest, had suffered some serious neglect over the past years, some essential emergency restoration has been done there recently. Often dubbed the Genadendal of the north, this pastoral village with its oak-lined lanes still holds some magic not to be missed, said MH chairman Duncan Ballantyne.

The land grant does not include Fort Merensky, an impressive stone structure on a hill overlooking the village. This was built by the missionaries and their followers in the 1860s as protection against inhospitable Pedi at the time.

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This structure and its immediate land still belong to the Heritage Association of South Africa (Hasa) with which MH is associated and on which board of directors the organisation enjoys representation. Hasa used to be the Foundation Simon van der Stel, a non-governmental organisation to promote the conservation of South Africa’s national heritage. This included buildings, sites, townscapes, squares, objects and environments.

It owns historic sites and buildings at various places throughout the country. A decision has been made to transfer all these to government or to bodies of trustees, or to exchange them into private ownership. For this reason Hasa, through MH, now seeks new ownership for the Fort and hopes to go into negotiations with provincial government which offers a museum service, to become the new owner.

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Prior to this, MH hopes to fence off and restore this sturdy stone structure by means of sponsorships by the private sector and public. “What needs to done is to refit the woodwork in the main lookout tower which was recently damaged by fire.

Also to erect a proper security fence with a controllable entrance on the perimeters of the property and to replace the signage and plaques that have been removed since the neglect of the complex. A layer of crushed stone between the fence and the walls of the structure will also protect it from future veld fires” said Ballantyne.

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It is important that this building is perfectly restored before it is handed over to the province. This will offer the Mpumalanga Museum Services with its limited budget a proper basis from which to continue the conservation task. Under the current conditions in South Africa, one can only expect from the private sector to sponsor such projects.

Ballantyne also hopes that a private lease of a substantial period can by granted to a responsible operator to bring Botshabelo back to its former glory. It still has the potential to be managed as a profitable heritage resort, he said.