The mayor of Musina Municipality, Cllr Caroline Mahasela, and Municipal Manager Mr Abram Luruli are currently representing South Africa at the 2009 Inter-City Intangible Cultural Cooperation Network (ICCN) Conference in Kingston, Jamaica.

The conference started on Tuesday (15th September). Mahasela and Luruli are in Jamaica at the invitation of the mayor of Kingston, Mr Desmond McKenzie, the mayor of Kingston. They are expected to arrive back in the country at the weekend.

The theme of the conference is: Local government at the forefront of preserving our intangible cultural heritage. The Musina delegation will make a presentation on Mapungubwe as a world heritage site.

The objectives of the conference are to provide the participants with a forum to share information and experiences on the designated theme through inter-governmental and inter-cultural dialogue. The conference also provides the participants with a forum where they can share the success cases of their local communities and discuss effective ways for boosting the local economy and for the development of the local areas through the linkage between the intangible cultural heritage and tourism.

Approximately 150 participants - mayors and governors, local government administrators and experts from Arabian, Asian, African, American, European and representatives of international organizations - are discussing the crucial roles of local government in the development of the cultural heritage.

Speaking from Jamaica during the conference, Mahasela said the conference was the right place for South Africa to share information, best practices, and experience on the designated theme through intergovernmental and inter-cultural dialogues. She said it was the right place to explore the methods and means of safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage and enhancing women’s roles in its promotion and transmission. “We are very proud to have Mapungubwe in our municipal area and it is the right time to market the heritage site to the whole world. We will definitely share the information with the rest of South Africa when we come back.”

Luruli said Musina Municipality will also use the opportunity to discuss the twinning agreement with the Jamaican municipalities. “We already have twinning agreements with other municipalities in Southern Africa and we will use the opportunity to forge a working relationship with our counterparts in Jamaica.”