With September marking Heritage Month, the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) said it intends to declare seven more Kramats in Cape Town and Muizenberg as National Heritage Sites and has invited the public’s comment on the decision.
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After almost 40 years of campaigning, the first ten Kramats were granted national heritage status in 2021. Following the momentous occasion, SAHRA now intends to declare seven more.
The Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society, an NPO dedicated to maintaining the numerous shrines across the Western Cape, together with Vidamemoria Heritage Consultants, submitted a serial nomination to have the Kramats declared as National Heritage Sites.
According to the agency’s website, the SAHRA identified the sites as having exceptional qualities of special national significance and warranting the declaration as National Heritage Sites.
Kramats are the sacred burial sites that make up the ‘Circle of Islam’ or ‘Circle of Saints’ that surrounds Cape Town. These landmarks hold incredible cultural and historical significance in our country’s story that might be lesser known, making their recognition as a national heritage site long overdue.
The 7 sites under consideration for NHS declaration:
- Sayed Abdul Aziz – Muizenberg
- Sayed Jaffer – Oude Kraal, Camps Bay
- Sheikh Ali Sayed Bassier – Camps Bay
- Sayed Abdul Malik – Oranjezicht
- Sayed Abdul Haq – Vredehoek
- Hazrat Sayed Mehboob Ali Shah – Maitland Cemetery
- Sheikh Abdul Kader – Table Mountain
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‘A prophecy made over 250 years ago said that there would be a “Circle of Islam”. It is believed that this Circle is formed by the shrines of Islamic Saints, the tombs of the Auliyah (Friends of Allah), and some of South Africa’s most influential spiritual leaders’ who fought against the oppression of slavery and colonial rule, commented SAHRA in its Gazette Notice.
These people were political exiles, convicts and slaves brought to the Cape from the East. They were figures who dedicated their lives to Islam and were largely responsible for the spread of the religion in Cape Town, which would later spread throughout the country.
The Circle starts at Signal Hill with four separate Kramats, continues to the site at Oude Kraal, then Constantia and further to the famous Kramat of Sheikh Yusuf at Faure (Macassar). The old tomb on Robben Island completes the circle.
‘The Kramats inspire reverence and peace, not because of architectural achievement or aesthetic appeal, but because of the character, knowledge and spiritual presence of those buried there,’ continued the notice.
‘As tangible representations of the life and character of the saints buried there, the Kramats are symbols of resistance and struggle for religious freedom and tolerance. They represent the commitment the saints had to the preservation of Islam and their struggle against the oppression of colonial powers.’
Once declared a National Heritage Site, the Circle of Tombs will be protected in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA). In terms of the NHRA, no person may destroy, damage, deface, excavate, alter, remove from its original position, subdivide or change the planning status of any heritage site without a permit from SAHRA.
To comment on the decision, click here.
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