Heritage lost: Tambo project is in shambles

These pictures show how we honour our heritage in South Africa. A decade after it was built at a cost of R60 million, the OR Tambo Cultural Project in Ekurhuleni is a dirty, untidy, neglected mess.

And a stone’s throw away, even the struggle icon’s grave site needs attention – weeds grow like a forest in the car park and some are even peeping through paving blocks close to his headstone.

But, stung into action after queries by The Citizen, the Ekurhuleni municipality said maintenance and refurbishment of the site have been budgeted for and that it will be ship-shape by the end of October when festivities will take place to commemorate ANC stalwart Tambo’s birthday.

The OR Tambo Cultural Precinct was developed as a tourism hot spot in a collaborative effort between the Gauteng government and the city, with the latter responsible for managing the asset.

At its launch, it promised a market, a narrative centre chronicling Tambo’s life, a restaurant and a library, among others. The complex was built to green specifications and was intended to highlight environmentally friendlier means of construction.

ALSO READ: Dreams buried in rubble– Mamelodi rondavels in ruins

Hay bales and mud are visible where the plaster has crumbled off. The centre has a ghostly quiet about it. It is in the middle of Wattville, which is in the centre of an industrial area in Benoni, and it does attract some visitors, the city said.

Plans are afoot to resuscitate the precinct, said Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, who outlined a programme of maintenance, repairs and rejuvenation leading up to planned festivities on 27 October – Tambo’s birthday.

The Oliver Tambo Narrative Centre inside the precinct could be a wonderful place of learning. It is really interesting and dis- sects the history of liberation relative to Tambo’s life. But according to a staffer who did not want to be named, some of the digital installations have not worked since being installed.

In fact, some have pictures affixed over them to hide the fact. Maintenance is sorely lacking. Right now, a three-year-old sewage leak still seeps into the nearby dam, parts of exterior walls have crumbled away and, in places, the ceiling is falling apart.

The pottery and craft centre are locked up, a computer centre in the library, too. What once was a fancy solar power installation, a government flagship project at the time, has not been operational for three years.

Rats gnawed through the cables and the city said vandals have damaged and looted the site. The 3 200m² solar farm lies in the state, powerless. According to the city, a tender is out for the resupply of parts for the solar plant and to get it back into running order. DA whip for energy Simon Lap- ping visited the site last week.

“We have inherited such malaise from the previous administration, which sorting out all the issues will take time, but one by one, we will sort it,” he said. Dlamini said issues that required maintenance – including repairs of walls, roof/waterproofing, decking, plumbing, electrical repairs, aircons, and landscaping – have been included in the line-up works for the current fiscal year.

“The administration is in progress to get the work done and should resume any time from now. “A walkabout meeting has been arranged for [Friday], with all stakeholder departments to finalise role clarification matters and stipulate deadlines for all works required in the facility.”

Adjacent to what looks like an abandoned restaurant kitchen are the locked-up pottery and glass-slumping craft studios. Dlamini said they were provincial projects abandoned during the pandemic. The municipality plans to reopen the facilities, he said, and restock the library after it was burgled some time ago.

He said the city plans to make a lot more use of the facility. In winter, the centre hosted a film festival and plans are afoot to continue ramping up its use after Tambo’s birthday celebrations.

The Wattville cemetery, where a giant grave marks Tambo’s final resting place, also needs some care. The actual grave site is tidy, bar the flowers that have crisped in the sun. Yet dirt and unkempt grounds surround the area.

Dlamini said that the grass was the last cut in June and that plans are in place to resume maintenance before Tambo’s birthday. The graveyard signage has missing letters.

“The city is in the process of finalising the tender which will cover signage needs throughout Ekurhuleni. It should be finalised before the end of the year and the cemetery is one of the priority areas to get new signage.” – news@citizen.co.za