McKenzie says no date yet for extra District Six heritage declarations, pledges to seek funding support

Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie has told Parliament there is no fixed date for declaring additional National Heritage Sites at District Six and that he will explore mechanisms to provide financial support to the District Six Museum.

Why declarations have stalled

Responding to questions from ActionSA MP Dereleen James, McKenzie said eight sites within District Six were formally gazetted on March 31, 2023. Those sites listed by the minister are: the Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Parish Centre and Convent, the Moravian Church, the Zeenatul-Islam Masjid, the Al Azhar Mosque, Trafalgar High School, Harold Cressy High School, and the Jewish Cemetery.

McKenzie said the declaration of additional sites is dependent on the submission of nomination forms by the District Six Museum, which the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) has been awaiting since March 2023. He told MPs that “No failure on the part of SAHRA, the department, or any other official has been identified as a contributing factor.”

“The declaration of additional sites is dependent on the submission of nomination forms by the District Six Museum, which the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) has been awaiting since March 2023.”

Next steps and timelines

McKenzie said he intended to engage with SAHRA to re‑engage the District Six Museum so the museum will submit the outstanding nomination forms and the second phase of declarations can proceed. He said no fixed date has been set and that any timeline will first depend on the receipt of the outstanding forms.

The minister explained that after receipt of the forms, SAHRA must engage relevant stakeholders, including property owners, and conclude management agreements before further declarations may proceed. He added that he will request SAHRA to provide a realistic indicative timeline once that process is initiated.

Funding for the District Six Museum

On financial support, McKenzie said the museum is constituted as a non-profit organisation (NPO) governed by a trust and did not receive an annual departmental subsidy. He told MPs the department transferred R4 million in 2021 to the museum through the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme to support operations and programmes affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added: “No further direct financial transfers were made by the department in the 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, or 2025/26 financial years.”

“No further direct financial transfers were made by the department in the 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, or 2025/26 financial years.”

McKenzie said he did not consider the current level of financial support adequate for an institution of the District Six Museum’s historical and social significance and described the museum’s exclusion from a standing annual subsidy under existing frameworks as “an unsatisfactory position given the museum’s national importance.”

He said the department will explore available mechanisms to provide more consistent support, including through the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund and other grant-funding instruments.

Parliamentary concern

In her questions, MP Dereleen James noted that the District Six Museum is internationally recognised as one of the most important memorials to forced removals and apartheid-era dispossession in South Africa and that it continued to operate without finalised National Heritage Site status despite years of applications and advocacy efforts.

McKenzie described District Six as a complex landscape with multiple stakeholders, including the historical community and approximately 800 current landowners, and said SAHRA has adopted a phased approach to formal protection by identifying specific sites of memory for declaration as National Heritage Sites.