Celebrating SA’s heritage

South Africans should draw strength from their diversity and use Freedom Park as a place to build social cohesion and focus on an inclusive future.

This is the view of Freedom Park CEO Jane Mufamadi who spoke to Vuk’uzenzele about the importance of celebrating heritage.

Situated at the top of Salvokop in Pretoria, Freedom Park is a heritage destination that challenges visitors to reflect on South Africa’s past, improve our present and build on our future as a united nation.

“Freedom Park is a monument and memorial established to honour those who sacrificed for freedom and humanity.

“It serves as a reminder that as we build a united future, we must dare not repeat the horrible mistakes and divisive decisions of the past,” she said.

Mufamadi believes that it is important for every nation to preserve its heritage because of the important role it plays in building the nation.

“A nation without heritage is like an individual without a soul.”

She added that preserving the heritage of the country will play an important role in developing the nation.

“If you look at countries that are doing well, they base their approach on their heritage and their development is based on their own culture and uniqueness.” 

Mufamadi said that Freedom Park was in the process of preserving the heritage of the country by digitising the Pan African Archives.

This is an educational tool that will be linked to the Knowledge Centre to  enable our visitors to learn about African liberation history in the exhibition area, to find more interactive material on touchscreens and to access academic material on the subject that is shared with other people everywhere electronically.”