Robben Island risks heritage de-listing

ROBBEN Island, one of South Africa’s key tourism attractions, recently came under fire when a Sunday newspaper reported that the site might be de-listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The paper reported that Robben Island was failing to meet UNESCO maintenance standards following the release of a UNESCO report last year. However, Palesa Morudu, head of marketing and communications for Robben Island, told TNN that this is not the case. “It is not true that there is a prospect of Robben Island being de-listed as a heritage site as this has not been communicated to us by the World Heritage Committee. The island is far from such an occurrence” she said. “We are currently developing a statement of significance on the site, which will be made available for public comment, on how to manage the site. Once this is done, the statement, along with a conservation management plan, which serves as guidance around intervention of the site, will form an integrated management plan. We have a deadline of the end of the financial year,” said Morudu. She added that for a site to be de-listed as a World Heritage Site, there has to be a complete collapse in the management of the site and “Robben Island is far from that situation”. (Nompelo Ndzimela)