The Johannesburg Heritage Foundation held its annual general meeting on Saturday 3rd August at Northwards. It was one of our best attended AGMs with over 80 members and associates present. The afternoon combined the formal annual general business meeting, report backs and a talk on Blue Plaques.
Brett McDougall, the outgoing chair of the JHF, presented the Chairman’s report and review of the achievements of the Foundation during the past year. The JHF has concentrated on its research activities, conservation work, a school tours programme, training tour guides, weekend heritage tours, lectures and a bus tour programme during the annual Heritage Weekend. A major activity has been the ongoing digitization of heritage documents housed at the JHF Research Centre. The three Joint Plans Committees guide architects, developers and planners in the management of heritage on the ground. The JHF has installed over 20 blue heritage plaques during the past year, painting the town with blue history word bites. Stakeholder engagement has seen the JHF connect with the City of Johannesburg, JAG and Museum Africa, Gauteng Provincial Government, the Provincial Heritage Association of Gauteng, The Johannesburg Urban Forest alliance (JUFA), Egoli Heritage Trust, the Wilds project and the Heritage Association of South Africa. It has been a full active and energetic year led by Brett McDougall and the Board of Management. JHF activities are publicised on the website and social media platforms; fund raising has been achieved through book sales and the sales of new books to our members. The focus has been on tackling heritage neglect, campaigning for conservation, putting our money where our mouth is with backing the restoration...
