Programme Director, Ms Claire Mawisa;
Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture in South Africa, Mr Gayton McKenzie;
President of the Republic of Carbo Verde, African Union Champion for the Preservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage in Africa and Patron of the African World Heritage Fund, H.E. José Maria Neves;
Our hosts, the Chairperson of the DBSA, Mr David Makhura, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Ms Boitumelo Mosako;
Ambassador of South Africa to France, Permanent Delegate to UNESCO and African World Heritage Fund Board Member, H.E. Dr. Philemon Mjwara;
Representative of the African Union Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHS), Dr Angela Martins;
Chairperson of the African World Heritage Fund, Mr Vusithemba Ndima, and Board Members;
Distinguished Partners, Donors and Development Finance Institutions,
Our esteemed Traditional Leaders and Custodians of our Heritage,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Dumelang, Sanibonani, Good morning!

As we observe Africa Month and commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, we are reminded of a defining moment in our continent’s history, one that affirmed Africa’s commitment to unity, self-determination, and shared progress.

It is in this enduring spirit that we gather today to reflect not only on how far we have come, but also on the responsibility we carry to preserve and promote Africa’s rich and diverse heritage.

This occasion holds personal significance for me because during my tenure as Minister of Arts and Culture, I had the privilege of contributing to the early stages of the development of the African World Heritage Fund, continuing on the work that had begun in 2006. 

At the time, its establishment was a deliberate and forward-looking decision grounded in a firm belief in Africa’s potential. An idea that remains relevant today. 

Through various engagements with practitioners, policymakers, and custodians of heritage across the continent, it is affirmed that Africa has never lacked cultural or natural wealth. What we lacked, especially then, was sufficient African-led capacity, coordination, and sustainable financing to protect, preserve, and leverage that heritage for the benefit of our people.

In my engagements over the years with stakeholders in the sector, I have come to appreciate that there is much pride about the beauty and significance of Africa's heritage, and that the women, men and youth who keep the sector alive however  advocate for more than recognition, but resources too. 

This work is about ownership, agency and legacy building. This highlights the urgent need to reposition heritage not only as a cultural asset, but as a development imperative.

Having said this, the World Heritage Fund is not just a financial instrument, but also a declaration that Africa must take ownership of its heritage and define its future.

Today, as we mark the 10th African World Heritage Day and celebrate 20 years of the Fund, we recognise both progress and purpose.

Over the past two decades, we have achieved meaningful milestones. The number of World Heritage sites across Africa have increased significantly. Investments in capacity-building have grown, with thousands of professionals trained in conservation and heritage management.

Communities, particularly women and youth, are now playing a more active and central role in safeguarding and benefiting from heritage.

These achievements demonstrate that heritage is not static. It is a living, dynamic resource that strengthens identity, supports livelihoods, and contributes to inclusive development.

Yet, we must also acknowledge the challenges that remain. Africa still accounts for a small proportion of the World Heritage List. Many sites remain underfunded or at risk, and several countries have yet to secure representation. Too many stories remain under-documented, and too many communities are yet to benefit from the heritage they protect fully.

These realities serve as a call to action!

Heritage cannot exist in isolation, confined to the cultural sector. It must be integrated into broader development frameworks. It must speak the language of investment, sustainability, and economic growth.

Let me be clear: heritage is an economic sector.

Across the continent, heritage sites drive tourism, support local enterprises, and create employment opportunities for guides, artisans, conservators, and entrepreneurs. When managed effectively and financed sustainably, heritage contributes to diversified local economies, strengthens national identity, and enhances Africa’s global competitiveness.

The African World Heritage Fund has played a pivotal role in unlocking this potential. By strengthening institutional capacity, improving site management, and promoting sustainable, community-centred tourism, the Fund has demonstrated how heritage can be leveraged as a tool for development.

However, unlocking the full value of Africa’s heritage requires deliberate and sustained effort. We must bridge the gap between cultural preservation and economic planning. We must ensure that conservation efforts are aligned with investment strategies and that local communities are at the centre of these initiatives.

This calls for stronger partnerships between governments, development finance institutions, the private sector, and communities. It requires innovation, responsiveness, and a shared commitment to ensuring that heritage delivers tangible social and economic benefits.

In this regard, the role of institutions such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa is particularly significant. It underscores the importance of viewing heritage not only as something to preserve, but as something to invest in strategically.

Our work also aligns with the broader vision of Agenda 2063, particularly the aspiration of an Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, and shared values. This vision is not only about preserving the past, but also about shaping the future.

The African World Heritage Fund reflects Africa’s transition from dependency to ownership, from marginalisation to leadership. It affirms that Africa will no longer wait to be counted, but will take responsibility for defining its place in the global narrative.

As we look to the future, we must renew our commitment to strengthening the Fund and expanding its impact. This includes mobilising its endowment, enhancing partnerships, and reinforcing its role as Africa’s central heritage mechanism.

This is not merely an investment in sites. It is an investment in jobs, skills, tourism, resilience, and the dignity of our people.

When we launched the Fund twenty years ago, we planted a seed. Today, we can say with confidence that it has taken root and begun to grow. But like any tree, it requires continued care, nourishment, and protection to flourish.

Since the African World Heritage Fund establishment:

- African States Parties to the World Heritage Convention have increased significantly;
- World Heritage sites in Africa have grown from 113 to 154;
- Over US$20 million has been invested in heritage capacity-building;
- Thousands of professionals have been trained;
- Communities, women, and youth now play a central role in heritage governance

We must therefore remain vigilant and committed. The success of this Fund and of our broader heritage agenda will depend not only on our words, but on our actions.

Today, I therefore support a call for renewed commitment to the following:

- Mobilising the 25 million US dollar Endowment Fund of the African World Heritage Fund;
- Strengthening partnerships with governments, finance institutions, and the private sector;
- Reinforcing the Fund’s role as Africa’s central heritage mechanism.

History will judge us on how well we protect what has been entrusted to us, and on whether we have succeeded in passing it on—stronger and more vibrant to future generations.

On this African World Heritage Day, as we celebrate twenty years of the African World Heritage Fund, let us reaffirm our shared responsibility to safeguard Africa’s heritage.

Let us ensure that it serves as a foundation for development, a source of dignity, and a pillar of unity across our continent.

Let us embrace Africa’s heritage and ignite its future.

Ke a leboga. Ngiyabonga. Thank you.

The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Mr Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile, will on Tuesday, 5 May 2026, deliver the keynote address at the celebration of African World Heritage Day and the 20th Anniversary of the African World Heritage Fund, taking place at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) campus in Midrand, Gauteng Province.

The Deputy President will be accompanied by the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr Gayton McKenzie. 

The commemorative event is hosted by the African World Heritage Fund, in partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), as part of Africa’s celebration of 20 years of investing in heritage, identity and the future.

Held under the theme “Celebrating Two Decades of Sustainable Investment in Africa’s Heritage,” the event brings together Representatives from Governments, the African Union, UNESCO, Development Finance Institutions, the private sector, civil society, philanthropy as well as heritage experts to reflect on progress, strengthen partnerships, and mobilise renewed investment in Africa’s heritage.

Established in 2006 through the African Union and UNESCO, the AWHF has become a leading continental institution supporting the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Over the past 20 years, it has strengthened heritage conservation, supported World Heritage nominations, and invested more than USD 20 million in capacity-building programmes across Africa.

Despite this progress, Africa remains underrepresented on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with 154 properties (12% of the global total), while also accounting for approximately 30% of sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Nine African countries still have no World Heritage inscriptions, underscoring the need for stronger political commitment, partnerships, and sustainable financing.

The celebration also supports the AWHF’s ambition to establish a USD 25 million Endowment Fund to secure long-term support for African Member States in protecting, managing, and promoting their heritage.

The event also marks the launch of Africa Month in South Africa, reaffirming heritage as a driver of identity, dignity, social cohesion, and inclusive economic development, while strengthening collaboration to ensure Africa’s heritage is preserved, valued, and leveraged for shared prosperity.

Members of the media are invited to cover the event as follows:
  
Date: Tuesday, 5 May 2026
Time: 09h00 (Media to set up at 08h00)
Venue: Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) Campus, 1258 Lever Road, Headway Hill, Midrand, Gauteng Province.
 
For media RSVPs, please contact: Madimetja Moleba on 066 301 4675 or  MadimetjaM@dsac.gov.za
 
Media enquiries: Mr Keith Khoza, Acting Spokesperson to the Deputy President on 066 195 8840

OR

Ms Zimasa Velaphi, Head of Communication and Marketing: Department of Sport, Arts and Culture on 072 172 8925 or  ZimasaV@dsac.gov.za 

OR

Ms Veronica Maduna, Head of Partnership Development: African World Heritage Fund on 076 183 0333 or  VeronicaM@dbsa.org  
 

Honourable Ministers, Mayors, colleagues,

Thank you for the frank, serious and constructive spirit that has characterised this engagement.

Our discussions today have reinforced the central point that our water and sanitation crisis is not confined to one municipality, one province or one institution.

It is rooted in long-standing weaknesses in governance, infrastructure maintenance, technical capability and financial discipline.

That is why our response must be integrated, sustained and measurable. 

As we conclude this part of the programme, we can agree on three key points: 

First, the commitments discussed here must now move into implementation. 

Plans must be sharpened and roles clarified. We must honour timelines and be rigorous in reporting.

Second, the principle of cooperative governance must become fully operational. 

The three spheres of government must act in concert, guided by the National Water Action Plan, and supported by the mechanisms that are now in place through the National Water Crisis Committee and related structures.

Third, the public must begin to see results. 

They must see improved maintenance, stronger operational performance, better wastewater compliance, more credible implementation and clear accountability. 

The work ahead is substantial. 

But this engagement has demonstrated that there is both clarity on the challenge and a shared recognition that the time for incremental responses has passed. 

Let us leave this session with a renewed determination to ensure that every municipality works, that every sphere of government plays its part and that the people of South Africa experience the state through delivery.

The Constitution enjoins us to hold elections every five years. The current term of office of the municipal councils elected on 1 November 2021 expires on 1 November 2026.

Accordingly, the elections for the next term of local government must be held between 2 November 2026 and 30 January 2027.

I have, therefore, in terms of section 159 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, read together with section 24(1) of the Local Government; Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (“the Municipal Structures Act”), and in consultation with the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), have set the date of Wednesday, 04 November 2026 as the date for the 2026 Local Government Elections.

I thank you.

Deputy President, Mr Paul Mashatile,
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa, 
Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ms Pemmy Majodina,
Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana, 
Deputy Ministers, 
Premiers and MECs,
Mayors and Municipal Managers, 
SALGA representatives,
Directors-General and Officials,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for your attendance at this Extended President’s Coordinating Council. 

This is the first time that the PCC holds an extended meeting that brings together all the mayors and municipal managers of our local government tier of Government. 

So you are all participating in a historic get-together.

The President’s Coordinating Council, which is composed of national ministers, Premier and local government representatives, was established to strengthen coordination across South Africa’s three spheres of Government – national, provincial and local.

South Africa’s system of government is based on cooperative governance.

In essence the architecture of our Government is set up in a well-structured way where national government sets national policy while provincial governments coordinate the implementation of policy and local government delivers the execution of policy. 

The PCC was created to ensure that all these spheres of Government work together and not in silos.

The PCC ensures national priorities are aligned with provincial and municipal plans.

In other words the PCC connects policy, implementation and delivery.

This PCC enables oversight and engagement with Premiers and Mayors. This ensures that our country is governed as one coordinated state, not three disconnected spheres of Government.

When the architects of our democracy drafted our constitution, they understood a fundamental truth that no single centre of power can fully serve a nation with as diverse, complex and divided history as South Africa.

They wisely created a system that is distinct in function, interdependent in purpose and interrelated in execution.

Today’s historic and unique meeting is aimed at enhancing our cooperative governance process so that we can work together as all three spheres of Government on a clear action plan to address the challenges facing many of our municipalities.

We all know what these challenges are.

Many municipalities do not have the revenue base to provide the infrastructure and services that people need. Many do not have a deep skills base from which they can draw.

The current system is too complex and fragmented, with even small and under-resourced municipalities expected to take on many responsibilities. 

As a consequence of these systemic problems, together with governance instability, many municipalities have weak financial management and institutional capability, poor revenue collection and insufficient accountability.

This results in poor service delivery. Water and electricity disruptions are common. Roads and other infrastructure are not maintained. 

It is ordinary South Africans who bear the costs of this.

Our task in this meeting is not to repeat the catalogue of shortcomings and weaknesses in local government, but to focus on the solutions.

The finalisation of the new White Paper on Local Government will be pivotal.

It will reimagine the way local government works, addressing the systemic challenges in the structure and functioning of local government.

Among the tasks we need to focus on is to unblock infrastructure. 

Energy, water, roads and public transport form the foundation on which economic growth and social development are built. 

The progress we have made nationally in tackling load shedding and improving logistics must now be translated into local reality. 

Municipalities must be at the frontline of delivery, ensuring that industrial parks have power, that township streets are lit, that businesses can operate with confidence.

We must therefore cut red tape. 

Bureaucratic delays are driving investment away and shutting out the very entrepreneurs we need to grow our local economies. 

We must take steps to professionalise the Public Service at a local level. 

Appointments must be made on merit. There must be accountability and transparency. We must build up the skills and capabilities of everyone who works in local government.

These efforts are being supported by Operation Vulindlela and are being coordinated through the District Development Model. 

There is no reason why, working together, we cannot overcome these challenges and ensure that municipalities are effective drivers of growth and development.

One of the most immediate challenges that affects almost every municipality is the crisis in the provision of water and sanitation.

That is why we have dedicated a significant portion of the agenda of this meeting to address this challenge.

There is no doubt that over the three decades of democracy we have made great progress in extending access to water.

According to the last Census, in 2022 over 82 percent of households in the country had access to piped water inside their house or yard, up from 61 percent in 1996.

However, as the General Household Survey of 2024 showed, many communities experience problems with the reliability and quality of these services. 

The percentage of households that experienced water interruptions lasting more than two days at a time increased from 24 percent in 2012 to 34 percent in 2024.

We are familiar with the main reasons for the growing frequency and extent of water disruptions.

These include ageing infrastructure, illegal connections, inadequate metering, weak monitoring, poor maintenance and institutional instability. 

Our eight metropolitan municipalities are collectively losing an average of 34 percent of all water purchased before it can be billed. Some metros are approaching 50 percent. 

Municipal debt to water boards has tripled between 2018 and 2025. 

This crisis did not emerge overnight and it will not be resolved by any single intervention. We need a range of actions addressing critical areas of failure.

Major reforms in the water sector are already well underway, having been part of the work of Operation Vulindlela since 2020.

Among the water sector reforms completed are the passing of the National Water Resource Infrastructure Agency Act and the establishment of the remaining Catchment Management Agencies.

We have cleared the backlog of water-use license applications, with the turnaround time for processing new water-use license applications improved markedly.

The Blue, Green and No Drop Reports have been reinstated to provide accurate information on the state of municipal water and sanitation services.

In addition, National Treasury is implementing the Metro Trading Services Reform programme to overhaul electricity, water and waste services in the eight metropolitan municipalities.

The programme aims to reverse long-term service decline, improve financial sustainability, and unlock R108 billion in investment by enforcing clear performance targets.

We need to build on the work that has already been done.

We are clear that resolving this crisis requires a collaborative and coordinated response across all three spheres of government, working together with all social partners and communities. 

It was for this reason that I announced in the State of the Nation Address in February that we would establish the National Water Crisis Committee to coordinate a government-wide response.

As we did to great effect in overcoming load shedding, the Water Crisis Committee will oversee the implementation of a National Water Action Plan.

As we deliberate today, there are five key principles that must guide our common effort. 

First, accountability must be restored. 

Every institution represented here must be clear about its role, obligations and timelines. 

The people of South Africa are entitled to know who is responsible if commitments are not met. 

Second, the financial integrity of water services must be protected. 

Revenue generated from water services must be ring-fenced to support the operation, maintenance, upgrading and long-term sustainability of those services. 

If infrastructure is allowed to deteriorate while revenues are diverted to other functions, the water crisis will only deepen. 

Third, technical and professional capability must be strengthened. 

Municipal water and sanitation systems require qualified engineers, plant operators, project managers, technicians and financial experts. 

Without the right people in the right posts, even the best plans will remain unimplemented. 

Fourth, there must be consequence management. 

Where there is underperformance, it must be corrected, and where there is persistent failure, there must be swift intervention. 

There must be no space for corruption, criminality or sabotage.

Fifth, cooperative governance must be made practical. 

We are three spheres of Government, but we are one state serving one people. 

We need to be aligned around a shared purpose and disciplined execution.

The President’s Coordinating Council exists precisely to align all spheres of Government on shared priorities and to hold one another accountable. 

The water crisis puts that mandate to the test. 

The National Water Crisis Committee provides the means of coordination. 

The National Water Action Plan provides the roadmap. 

What this meeting must provide is the political commitment across all three spheres to make both of them work.

We should leave here today with firm commitments, responsibilities and timelines.

The country is looking to us to secure an uninterrupted supply of water to all citizens, businesses and institutions, now and into the future.

We have the means to do this. Let us demonstrate that we have the will.

I thank you.