WESTERN CAPE NEWS - The Covid-19 lockdown forced the closure of many of our province's museums and heritage sites. While some have now been allowed to reopen, reduced numbers of local and international tourists also mean that museums have lost significant revenue.
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport in the province made over R1.3 million funding available to museums as part of its Cultural Affairs COVID-19 relief funding strategy.
Museums play an important part in sharing the stories of our region and of our people and as we prepare to celebrate Heritage Day tomorrow, we must acknowledge their significance in preserving our cultural heritage.
I am therefore very pleased that the District Six Museum’s application for funding was successful. District Six, and the many distinguished people who were born, or who grew up there, are part of Cape Town's rich heritage which must be preserved and shared with younger generations.
The museum will receive just over R330 000 in funding to assist it to continue to tell the story of District Six. The museum is also running a donation campaign, and an online Save D6 Museum Benefit Concert will be held tomorrow, to raise funds. I encourage residents to support one of these initiatives which will not only help to preserve the museum but to save the jobs of those employed there.
Cape Cycle Routes launch:
Today, I headed out into the Karoo with Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier to launch the Karoo Crossing cycle route. This is the fifth in the Cape Cycle Routes network, created by the Western Cape Government, and marketed by Wesgro.
Stretching from Knysna to Calitzdorp, or vice versa, this 358 km route will take you through some of the Karoo's beautiful small towns, via gravel and tar road.
With the summer season approaching, we encourage people to get out and explore the province by venturing off the beaten track and to stop along the way and enjoy some of the best of small town hospitality. This will help support the tourism and hospitality sector which is a significant job creator, especially in our non-rural areas, and help us to save jobs in the province.
We must however be safe at all times wherever we are across the province. Wearing your mask, washing your hands regularly and practicing social distancing are simple things you can do to protect yourself and others and ensure that we continue to slow the spread of COVID-19.
I also echo Minister of Transport and Public Works, Bonginkosi Madikizela’s call today for our residents who are travelling for the long weekend to please drive responsibly.
Covid-19 figures update:
As of 13:00 on 23 September, the Western Cape has 2 492 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 109 109 confirmed cases and 102 471 recoveries.
Data note: It is not always possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new recorded case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts.
We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas.
The Western Cape has recorded an additional 13 deaths bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4146. We send our condolences to their family and friends at this time.
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