Save our historic sites!

The wood and corrugated iron house in which prime minister Jan Smuts entertained world leaders is in a state of disrepair and desperately needs funds to restore it.

Jan Smuts House Museum in Irene, Gauteng, has made it onto the Most Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites 2017 list, a campaign initiated by the Heritage Monitoring Project.

According to the project, the private foundation that runs the museum has been finding the task "rather daunting".

"The trustees of the Jan Smuts Foundation face a number of challenges. The house and grounds have never benefited from official patronage. Overall, Smuts House is in a poor state of repair and the valuable library with rare books dating from the 16th century lacks the requisite climate control necessary for the preservation of a priceless collection.

"Most importantly, the museum needs resources to explore ways of making Smuts House relevant to new audiences," the campaign said.

The museum was among more than 35 cultural heritage sites identified when the Heritage Monitoring Project called for the public to nominate sites of concern.

Bo-Kaap, described as a rare example of a historic residential community still residing in the houses of their forebears, also made the list as a result of the City of Cape Town's "ongoing gentrification [and] insensitive developments".

Botshabelo Mission Station, an 1865 place of safety for missionaries and Swazi and Bapedi converts in Mpumulanga, is at risk due to neglect leading to vandalism, theft, disappearance of historical objects and the loss of tourism revenue as visitor numbers dwindled.

The Old Nurses' Residence in Johannesburg, unoccupied since 1978, is described by the campaign's judges as a "telling example of poor heritage custodianship on the part of the Gauteng provincial government".

The full list can be viewed on the Heritage Monitoring Project website.