Heritage

What Heritage does

Heritage Association of South Africa (HASA), doing business as Heritage SA, is the largest and oldest conservation lobby group in South Africa. Founded via the Simon van der Stel Foundation (Gold Medal awards since 1969) and renamed HASA in 2011, the Johannesburg-based non-profit serves as the national umbrella and advocacy body for affiliated conservation bodies, heritage societies and practitioners across all nine provinces. Its stated mission is to be a respected and independent voice advocating for the research, promotion and conservation of the national estate, in a context where — more than two decades after the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25 of 1999) — provincial and municipal heritage capacity remains weak.

HASA delivers value through a portfolio of programs rather than a single product. Core offerings include the Annual Heritage Symposium (a rotating 3-day event with ~100 delegates, 12 talks and 5 heritage field excursions; under R1,500/delegate), the Simon van der Stel Awards Program (Gold Medal for individuals since 1969, Gold Certificates for organizations since 2015, and Certificates of Merit since 2017), an educational resource library (heritage survey guide, historical research guide, student's guide), a membership program for individuals and affiliated conservation bodies, and a monthly newsletter. The digital presence is built on a WordPress site (heritagesa.org) with an RSS feed and embedded Facebook/Twitter/Instagram channels; HASA also recommends the South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS) as the national heritage inventory database.

Revenue is generated primarily through membership subscriptions (fees not publicly disclosed) and per-event symposium delegate fees, with implicit donations and grants supporting advocacy work. Distribution is community-led: HASA operates through a national Council (chaired by Kathy Munro) and a network of affiliated local heritage associations (e.g., Magaliesberg Association for Culture & Heritage, Clarens Heritage Association, Middelburg Heritage Society, Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, Cape Town Heritage Trust, VASSA). The co-hosted Blue Plaque Schools' Project with the Centre for Conservation Education — which has awarded 36 plaques across the Western Cape since 2015 — extends reach into the education sector in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department and local heritage foundations.

Name

Heritage

Legal name

Heritage Association of South Africa

Website

https://heritagesa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Heritage Association of South Africa (HASA) is South Africa's largest and oldest non-profit conservation lobby group, advocating nationally on behalf of affiliated heritage bodies and practitioners while running the annual Heritage Symposium and the Simon van der Stel awards program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Conservation Advocacy

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Administration of Conservation Programs (92412)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Historic Preservation & Landmarks Conservation (BPAGAHAE), Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI)

Keywords

• Heritage conservation
• Cultural heritage advocacy
• Heritage awards programme
• Heritage symposium
• Heritage membership body

Headquarters

HQ city

Johannesburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: HASA is a membership-based association; the website has a 'Join us' call-to-action inviting individuals and affiliated conservation bodies to join the association.
2. Annual Heritage Symposium delegate fees: Symposium delegate fees for the 3-day event covering 12 talks and 5 heritage field excursions; 2022 Hartbeespoort Symposium cost under R1,500.00 per delegate, including cableway trip, sunset dinner and Gala Award dinner. Lunches and the final dinner were separate.
3. Event-driven partnership and venue revenue: Symposium activities are organized in collaboration with local heritage associations (e.g., Magaliesberg Association for Culture & Heritage in 2022, Clarens Heritage Association in 2024, Middelburg Heritage Society in 2025), with bookings processed via dedicated conference booking inboxes such as [email protected].
4. Donations and grants (implicit non-profit funding): As a non-profit conservation lobby group, HASA is positioned to receive donations and partner contributions to support its advocacy and conservation work; no specific donation tiers are published on the website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Heritage Association of South Africa (HASA) is a non-profit heritage conservation lobby group that advocates for the research, promotion and conservation of South Africa's national estate. It offers membership services, an annual Heritage Symposium, the Simon van der Stel Awards programme, a heritage resource library and newsletter for individuals, heritage societies, conservation bodies, schools and researchers.

Product overview

Heritage Association of South Africa (HASA) is a non-profit heritage conservation lobby group rather than a unified software product or platform-plus-modules architecture. Its offering is a portfolio of programs and content services held together by the HASA brand: the recurring Annual Heritage Symposium (e.g., the 2025 Middelburg 'Historical Middelburg, the gateway to history' symposium running 13–16 October 2025, and the 2024 Clarens symposium), the Simon van der Stel Awards Program (Gold Medal, Gold Certificate and Award of Merit) administered on behalf of conservation bodies, a Heritage Resources & Guides educational library for communities and students, HASA Membership for individuals and affiliated bodies, and the HASA Newsletter Subscription. Together these programs position HASA as the largest and oldest conservation lobby group in South Africa, an advocacy voice for the research, promotion and conservation of the national estate.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Heritage Symposium

Quantifiable outcome

• 74 Simon van der Stel Gold Medals awarded across 39 years (1969–2022)
• +3 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered major (annual event partnership), core (programmatic), supporting (sector reach), supporting (programmatic), minor (affiliated network) and core (regulatory relationship).

• Middelburg Heritage Societymajor (annual event partnership)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 13 October 2025The Middelburg Heritage Society is hosting the HASA 2025 Symposium themed 'Historical Middelburg, the gateway to history' in Middelburg, Mpumalanga between 13th and 16th October 2025. The HASA Council issued Circular No.3 (July 2025) and Circular No.4 (September 2025) to coordinate the event.
• Clarens Heritage Associationmajor (annual event partnership)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 22 October 2024The Clarens Heritage Association, in collaboration with the HASA Council, hosted the 23rd Annual Heritage Symposium in Clarens (Eastern Free State) between 22nd and 24th October 2024. The Clarens Heritage Association, led by President Debra Stewart (owner of Bibliophile bookshop), co-organized the conference venue at The Clarens Golf & Leisure Estate and programming.
• Magaliesberg Association for Culture & Heritage (MACH)major (annual event partnership)Strategic or Co-development Partner · 13 October 2022MACH, with Mike Benn, Vincent Carruthers, Prof. Mariette Lowes, Tsungi Fundira and Stuart Claque, planned and hosted the 2022 HASA Symposium at the Hartbeespoort Aerial Cableway Conference Centre. MACH handled bookings via [email protected]. The event covered the Magaliesberg Biosphere Reserve area, with 12 talks, 5 excursions, a ceremony at Sappersrus, and commemoration of the centenary of Hartbeespoort Dam.
• Centre for Conservation Educationcore (programmatic)Strategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2015, the Centre for Conservation Education has spearheaded the Blue Plaque Schools' Project in partnership with the Simon van der Stel Foundation Cape Town, supported by the Western Cape Education Department and endorsed by HASA. The project extended from Cape Town Metro to Drakenstein, Stellenbosch, Somerset West, Franschhoek, Durbanville, Swellendam and George.
• Western Cape Education Department (WCED)supporting (sector reach)GTM or Marketing PartnerThe Western Cape Education Department supports and endorses the Blue Plaque Schools' Project because awarding plaques rekindles community heritage and helps nation-building through recognition of schools that were previously marginalised.
• Drakenstein Heritage Foundationsupporting (programmatic)GTM or Marketing PartnerThe Drakenstein Heritage Foundation supports the Blue Plaque Schools' Project, helping install blue plaques at schools in the Drakenstein area (Paarl etc.).
• Stellenbosch Heritage Foundationsupporting (programmatic)GTM or Marketing PartnerThe Stellenbosch Heritage Foundation supports the Blue Plaque Schools' Project, helping install blue plaques at schools in the Stellenbosch area.
• Vernacular Architecture Society of South Africa (VASSA)minor (affiliated network)Strategic or Co-development PartnerVASSA is an affiliated body in the heritage network; its chair Dr Judy Maguire introduced Vincent Carruthers at the 2022 HASA Symposium and Dr Antonia Malan (2021 medal recipient) chaired VASSA and edits the VASSA Journal. John Rennie (2021 medal recipient) is past Chairman of VASSA.
• Cape Town Heritage Trustminor (affiliated network)Strategic or Co-development PartnerCape Town Heritage Trust is an affiliated heritage organization; both Dr Antonia Malan (2021 medal) and John Rennie (2021 medal) have served as trustees/board members of the Trust.
• Johannesburg Heritage Foundationminor (affiliated network)Strategic or Co-development PartnerJohannesburg Heritage Foundation is an affiliated heritage body; the Friends of Johannesburg Cemeteries project, founded by Sarah Welham (2021 Certificate of Merit), operates as an offshoot of the Foundation, which provides Sarah access to its Resource Centre for genealogical research.
• South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA)core (regulatory relationship)Strategic or Co-development PartnerSAHRA is the national heritage resources agency; HASA interacts with SAHRA on heritage policy and recommends the South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS) as the national database for approved heritage inventories. HASA also commented publicly on the January 2022 Parliament fire which involved a SAHRA-declared Grade 1 National Heritage Site.
• Heritage Western Capecore (regulatory relationship)Strategic or Co-development PartnerHeritage Western Cape is the provincial heritage resources authority; HASA references its grading scheme (Grade I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, Not Conservation Worthy) in the 'Guide to conducting a heritage survey' and works with HWC on surveys and inventories.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Historic England: UK's public body that advises on and promotes the conservation of historic places, providing grants, listing, and heritage standards guidance. Comparable to HASA in standards-setting and survey-grading role, though operating as a public agency rather than membership body.
• National Trust (UK): The UK's largest conservation charity, founded in 1895, with a membership-based model advocating for historic places, landscapes, and cultural heritage. Directly comparable to HASA as a national non-profit membership body that runs awards, owns/manages heritage assets, and serves as an independent advocacy voice.
• Australian Heritage Council: Australian statutory advisory body on heritage matters that maintains the National Heritage List and engages with state/territory heritage bodies. Comparable to HASA in national-coordination role across provinces, though operating as a government advisory council.
• National Trust for Historic Preservation (US): US non-profit that advocates for historic preservation, runs an annual conference, administers heritage awards, and operates a national network of preservation affiliates. Highly comparable to HASA's structure, advocacy focus, and member-affiliate model.

Direct peers

• Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH): Indian non-profit heritage conservation organization that serves as the national voice for heritage advocacy, runs heritage awards, and operates through a national network of chapters. Closest peer to HASA in scale, structure, and emerging-market heritage advocacy mission.
• Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga: New Zealand's national heritage body that identifies, protects, and promotes heritage places; runs an annual heritage awards program and partners with local heritage societies. Comparable to HASA in national advocacy plus provincial affiliate structure and awards.
• Heritage Foundation of Pakistan: Pakistan's national heritage advocacy non-profit, focused on cultural and architectural conservation through education, publications, and community engagement. Comparable to HASA in mission, publications-led approach, and developing-country heritage lobby role.

Others

• South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA): South Africa's national heritage regulatory agency that maintains the SAHRIS heritage inventory and administers the National Heritage Resources Act. Adjacent peer to HASA — the two organizations interact on policy, and HASA's grading framework maps directly onto SAHRA's Grade I/II/III system.

Regional players

• Cape Town Heritage Trust: A regional heritage conservation body in Cape Town and affiliated member of HASA whose trustees include past Gold Medal recipients. Comparable to HASA as a regional conservation lobby with strong local heritage identification and advocacy mandate.
• Vernacular Architecture Society of South Africa (VASSA): South African society dedicated to the study and conservation of vernacular architecture, an affiliated body within HASA's network whose members sit on HASA's Gold Medal adjudication panel. Comparable as a specialized heritage society operating in the same geography and constituency.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HeritageAssocSA
• Facebookfacebook.com/HeritageSA
• Instagraminstagram.com/heritagesouthafrica

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heritage