Anwar Omar received his Master’s degree in philosophy at UCT earlier this month.
The intangible cultural heritage of historic inner-city suburbs such as Salt River, Woodstock and Bo-Kaap is slowly but surely being eroded by gentrification.
So says Salt River heritage conservationist Anwar Omar, 62, who explored the issue in a dissertation for his Master’s degree in philosophy, which he received from UCT on Monday September 2.
His dissertation was titled: “The Intersection of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Inner-city Suburb of Salt River, Cape Town: A case study of the contestation around the adhan (Muslim call to prayer).”
Mr Omar believes the country’s heritage regulatory framework does not provide sufficient protection for intangible cultural heritage and does not explicitly contain provisions to preserve the intangible in the same way that it preserves tangible heritage.
Despite South Africa being one of the 120 countries that voted for the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage to be adopted by Unesco in 2003, 20 years later, it has not been ratified by the country, he says.
“My dissertation highlights this gap in our legislation and explains the consequence of the neglect of intangible cultural heritage.”
Mr Omar has been a lifelong resident of Salt River. He attended Cecil Road Primary in the 1960s, Salt River High in the 1970s and UCT in the 1980s.
He is a founding member of the Salt River Heritage Society (SRHS), which was established in 2018. Being a member of the society was one of the reasons that drove him to pursue his Master’s degree, he says.
“I wanted to transfer these skills and knowledge into the SRHS in terms of the heritage regulatory framework and the role of a registered conservation body in preserving heritage.”
The Heritage Western Cape order issued earlier this year to stop the City’s illegal work on the Salt River Hall was due to the expertise he gained on behalf of the SRHS and its role as a registered conservation body, he says (“Salt River Hall faces uncertain future,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, July 11).
“I’m of course proud that at this stage of my life I’m able to contribute positively to the research and preservation of the history and heritage of the community from where I hail.”
He acknowledges that change is inevitable in any historic urban landscape, but adds: “The big question is how does it change and how are the tangible and intangible heritage features within an area that are worthy of safeguarding, protected?”
He urges all heritage practitioners to fully evaluate the significance of sites “taking into consideration the impact of developments on the historic landscape, as well as the tangible and intangible elements of the area and always bear in mind that the tangible buildings are meaningless without their intangible dimensions”.