History can wait: Project to document BCM’s heritage stalls

A Buffalo City Metro Development Agency project meant to documentthe metro’s rich historyfor the benefit of tourists and residents has stalled — two years after its rollout was marred by controversy. In early 2024, the agency began erecting interpretive information boards on a culture and heritage route aimed at bringing “the rich history and traditions of the region to the world through a series of curated journeys, highlighting the stories and places of our ancestors”. But errors in the information carried on two of the installations on the East London Esplanade caused an uproar, forcing the agency to take them down.

The boards in question were titled, “The House of Phato” and “Beachfront hotels and City Jazz”. The agency had promised to reinstall the boards, which cost about R5,000 each, with correct information in June 2024. However, this did not happen and theprojecthas stalled.

The “House of Phato” board made reference to the Xhosa traditional leader’s two sons, Gcaleka and Rharhabe. However, Gcaleka and Rharhabe were the sons of the King Phalo and not Phato. Phato was a paramount chief, whose family as recently as 2020 contested the renaming of the East London Airport to King Phalo Airport.

[paywall]

The second board, which showed the wrong picture of the Beach Hotel, was also called into question. This week, the BCM Development Agency’s spokesperson, Nomkitha Zokufa saidthe delay in reinstalling the two boards on the Esplanade was primarily due to budgetary constraints which had affected the broader rollout of the interpretive board programme. Boards were meant to be erected in 2024 in other areas of the metro, such as Mdantsane, Zwelitsha, Qonce and Bhisho.

[/paywall]