Many of South Africa’s World Heritage Sites are archaeological treasures. Recently, UNESCO named 14 new Heritage sites, recognising SA’s contribution to the struggle for human rights, liberation and reconciliation.
Gauteng’s cityscapes and townships are finally getting the recognition they deserve for their role in human history after UNESCO announced a new series of World Heritage Sites.
A serial of properties representing South Africa’s liberation movement, the Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites, pinpoint the major locations that featured in the struggle and the lives of its most influential figures.
No province displays this history better than Gauteng, where eight of the fourteen sites are located.
Places like Constitution Hill and the Union Buildings have been named world heritage sites, a far cry from the well-known ones like the Drakensberg Mountains or the Cape Floral Region, recognized for their ancient history and rare beauty.



Of South Africa’s 12 World Heritage Sites, Robben Island is the only other site from modern history that qualified under Criterion vi – to be associated with events, ideas, creations or beliefs of outstanding universal significance.
And while Robben Island does indeed symbolize the indomitable human spirit and dedication to freedom, the new Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites display a less isolated, more communal type of triumph and liberation. These new locations are not museums, but living, breathing places.
One of the sites, simply named “16 June 1976 – The Streets of Orlando West” includes long stretches of roads in the township, chosen not for any specific incident that took place but for the spirit of defiance and bravery that arose from this area.
This Heritage Site is not a protected spot of natural value, but a celebration of the distinctive humanity displayed at this site during the 1976 uprisings.
Smack-bang in the middle of Joburg, Constitution Hill is a great example of how universal human history also exists in bustling, vibrant places, not just in ruins or rainforests.
In Sharpeville, the four sites making up the Heritage site there are nestled between spaza shops and sports bars. One of them, the Sharpeville police station, is today the Kitso Information Development Centre, a hive of activity which includes a feeding scheme and computer and life skills courses.
Gauteng has approximately 16-million residents, most of whom live in urban areas. The declaration of these UNESCO Heritage Sites displays how we live alongside our history, and in doing so keep it alive.
To see the full list of the UNESCO Nelson Mandela Heritage Sites, check out a Google Maps list of them here.
FEATURED IMAGE: The Old Fort, Constitution Hill. Photo: Ruby Delahunt.
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