ABSTRACT
Heritage buildings according to the South African Heritage Resources Act No. 25 of 1999 are defined as historical buildings that are older than sixty years. The value of these buildings are usually mainly assessed on two criteria—that of its age and on its architectural significance. The criteria also include an evaluation of how it was used, at different historical times, and its overall historical or cultural significance. The spatial geography of the South African city was deliberately designed to entrench the dominance of one group over another. This spatial dominance and social engineering was implemented within the city and buildings in several ways. The most obvious and impactful manipulation of space was the segregation and separation of people along racial lines. The single race dormitory townships created by the apartheid government at the edge of the city where black people were relegated to were separated from each other by large tracks of impassable land or industrial areas called buffer zones.
