ANC president to unveil statues

LIFE- SIZE statues of pioneering ANC president Dr AB Xuma and struggle stalwart Walter Sisulu have stood wrapped up in refuse bags for more than two years due to a dispute over who must unveil the effigies.

The two statues are part of the Heroes Park memorial in Ngcobo honouring struggle veterans born in the small Eastern Cape town.

Xuma’s grandson Mthetheli Xuma said the statues were built by the provincial government and that they were about to be unveiled last year when the family pulled a plug on the ceremony that was to be led by Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle.

“Because Dr AB Xuma was president of the ANC, not just anybody must unveil the statue; it must be the president and we still maintain that,” said the grandson.

The family insists that the statues must be unveiled by ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa after their efforts to get President Jacob Zuma were unsuccessful.

He said they wanted the matter to be urgently finalised by the Ngcobo Local Municipality.

ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, who visited the Xuma family in Manzana village this week, promised to deliver Ramaphosa to unveil the statue.

”You asked for the president to come and unveil the statue, he will come. It’s just for us to arrange the date,” he said.

Magashule promised to inform the Xuma family of the date after Monday’s ANC Top Six meeting.

He said he had been sent by the ANC to listen to the Xuma’s complaints.

“The ANC still has not forgotten the Xuma family and the ANC will never change,” said Magashule.

According to Magashule, when the ANC Top Six meets on Monday, the Xuma family’s request will be part of the agenda.

He said he would approach both national and provincial government to deal with the matter.

“Even Xhosa King Zwelonke Sigcawu complained that he has been asking the government to tar the 17km stretch of road.

“He gave us 21 requests. It means for 23 years the king has been asking for the road to be fixed. How come?”

Xuma, who died in January 1962, became the first African to become a medical doctor in the country in 1925.

He was ANC president between 1940 and 1949.

Sisulu served as ANC secretary-general and deputy president.

He died in 2003.