A new month, a new season and new and innovative ways as we go forward

The month of September means many things to many people. Apart from traditionally heralding and welcoming the season we call Spring in South Africa, the month of September is also the month during which South Africans are called upon to celebrate their shared Heritage.

This automatically leads up to the next opportunity to celebrate September as national as well as international or World Tourism Month. According to the spokesperson of South Africa's National Tourism Department, “Tourism Month is celebrated annually in September providing a heightened monthlong focus on the importance of the sector to the South African economy culminating in World Tourism Day which is celebrated worldwide on September 27 .”

This time around, the focus, according to UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization), will be on “inclusive growth” urging citizens all over the world to be creative and to think out of the box as they move forward in uncertain times. This does not only apply to citizens in other countries and in other parts of the world, but also to the citizens of South Africa and to the residents of our own very special part of the world at the very tip of the African continent.

Visitors to museums rewarded for opting to be responsible citizens as Heritage Month kicks off in the Western Cape

For starters, Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport Minister, Anroux Marais, announced on Tuesday, August 31, that individuals who have been either partially or fully vaccinated and are in possession of the relevant vaccination card to prove this, can now visit all affiliated museums in the Western Cape “free of charge”. Affiliated museums in the Province have been open to all members of the public since the beginning of August, but a very strict COVID-19 protocol still apply.

The Minister explained her decision in this regard as follows: “Usually visitors pay an entry fee to access our museums across the province, but to encourage all to get vaccinated, we are happy to waive this fee for the month of September in a bid to increase our vaccination numbers while promoting our affiliated museums as we now contain, adapt and recover in the Western Cape”.

In the Overberg District, the following museums are listed: The Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum in Bredasdorp; Genadendal Museum in Genadendal; Old Harbour Museum in Hermanus; Drostdy Museum in Swellendam and the Caledon Museum in Caledon.

As visitors proceed along the Garden Route and further afield from the Overberg region, kindly note that both the Dias Museum in Mosselbaai and the Great Brak Museum in Great Brak are alo affiliated museums. This also applies to the CP Nel Museum in Oudshoorn, the Worcester Museum in Worcester and the Togryers Museum in Ceres.

Ora Laubscher