Pretoria — Public consultations on transforming South Africa's heritage sector will conclude on Friday, three days before Heritage Day.

The National Heritage Council (NHC) has conducted the talks across the nation, set to a draft Heritage Transformation Charter, to be published next month.

The draft will then be submitted to the Department of Arts and Culture, said Danny Goulkan, marketing and communications manager for the NHC.

The Heritage Charter will provide a framework to bring the sector on par with the national imperatives of skills development, job creation, accessibility, African cultural values and using heritage to contribute directly to economic development.

The NHC Chief Executive Sonwabile Mancotywa said "the heritage sector is a strategic resource of the country towards national identity and nation building. It will be sad for the future generation to blame us for neglecting their cultural heritage".

Each province was visited by the NHC and provincial government officials, including Premiers and MECs, who raised critical issues that are "still holding the sector back."

Gauteng is the last province to be visited, where the talks are set to conclude on Friday.

With the concentration of universities, heritage institutions, organizations and practitioners in Gauteng, critical suggestions for the charter are expected following the meeting.

These will delve into what the charter should address in order to unlock economic potential and bring a fair, cultural representativity in the sector.

Mr Goulkan said delegates will be given the whole day to raise their concerns and make specific recommendations.

Issues of affordability and access to heritage sites were among topics raised by the other eight provinces.

Other matters included concerns over skills, research funding language development, education and outdated heritage legislation amongst others.

The NHC was established through an Act of Parliament, to coordinate, transform, fund the heritage sector, raise awareness and advise on policy.

The NHC receives applications of over R20million rand a year.

While the majority of the proposals deserve funding, the NHC has to select those which deal with the promotion and preservation of the previously suppressed heritage that would result or lead towards knowledge creation.

The NHC issues grants twice a year to applicants whose projects focus on the preservation, documentation and skills transfer of heritage in South Africa.