Bid to plug Big Hole worldwide
2005-05-24 23:00
Kimberley - Plans to declare the Big Hole as a national and World Heritage Site are going ahead.
David Molusi, Northern Cape MEC for sport, arts and culture, said on Tuesday the process of grading the site in terms of the requirements of the National Heritage Resources Act would start soon.
"A timeframe for the grading to be completed was set for November this year in conjunction with the South African Heritage Resources Agency," said Molusi in his department's budget speech.
Molusi delivered his department's R55m budget for the next financial year in the Northern Cape legislature on Tuesday, indicating that it would be inadequate to meet the department's objectives satisfactorily.
"This represents a substantive decrease of 13.5% if compared to the 2005/2006 allocation."
'Commemorative days'
Molusi said the lack of funds would hamper the department from delivering on its mandate, among other things, to host "commemorative days".
The department allocated R984 000 for this purpose.
"The allocation provided is hardly enough to ensure the successes of these events, considering their nature and form," he said.
Molusi said the government wanted to do away with the perceptions held by some members of the public that these days were just holidays without meaning, and political rallies for the ruling party.
"These commemorative days are used to promote unity in diversity, to showcase the cultural diversity enjoyed by all South Africans, to highlight democratic principles and social rights guaranteed."
Molusi said the department's biggest challenge however was the establishment of a provincial archives repository.
- SAPA