Answers sought on Gandhi statue’s defacing

Maile arrived with a group of friends wearing ANC attire

DURBAN: “I am here as a concerned member of the public. I want to know the reason Gandhi was defaced!”

The Rev Desiree Drake arrived at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court to question the man accused of defacing Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at the weekend.

Molefe Maile, 21, was accused yesterday in the court of malicious damage to property. The case was postponed until May 8 for further investigation. Although Maile was in his own clothes, he arrived in court with a group of friends wearing ANC attire.

The Gauteng ANC Youth League (ANCYL) chairperson, Matome Chiloane, however, said the ANC had distanced itself from the incident.

According to him, the party was against the defacing of any statues, including those of apartheid or colonial figures. “One cannot equate Gandhi with Kruger or Verwoerd.”

Gauteng DA leader John Moodey condemned the vandalism.

Drake said: “Gandhi was a man who promoted peace. He was not a colonial or political figure. If people can deface such a statue, what will tomorrow bring?”

In new racism allegations against Gandhi, however, University of Johannesburg sociology Professor Ashwin Desai said: “Gandhi’s whole operation in South Africa was that he was a man of empire. He believed Indians needed to make alliances with whites so they could integrate themselves into white power.”

KZN EFF deputy chairman Jackie Shandu weighed in, saying Gandhi was an Indian nationalist who called blacks “k******“.

Gandhi lived in South Africa between 1893 and 1914 after studying law in Britain. Satish Dhupelia admitted his great-grandfather had made the remarks, citing the country’s status quo at the time.

He said Gandhi “soon learnt” and changed his stance on blacks. – Own Correspondents, ANA