Social divisions carved in stone or cenotaphs to a new identity? Policy for memorials, monuments and statues in a democratic South Africa.

Popular protests in 2015 in South Africa around statues and memorials, sparked off by the #RhodesMustFall campaign, drew attention to heritage policy and practice in the country since the advent of democracy in 1994. The protests and commentary in social and other media revealed the extent of polarisation along racial fault lines in South African society. They also exposed the apparent failure of official policy implemented for more than 20 years of promoting heritage for the purposes of nation building and social cohesion. Numerous writers have analysed heritage in South Africa since the transition to democracy, but none has traced the details of the evolution of heritage policy within the ruling party and government. This study seeks to shed light on the current debates on the politics of heritage in South Africa by examining the various policy processes and practices within the ruling African National Congress and the government. It argues that many of the heritage practices and policies in South Africa are rooted in the apartheid past and that failure, especially by decision-makers, to critically interrogate these has led to the stunted transformation of society and the current ferment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]