U’hage statue attacked – again
THE Uitenhage War Memorial statue was vandalised again yesterday – the second time this year – and this time it had white paint splashed all over it.
The vandals struck amid plans by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to move the statue to a place of safety after it was torched in April during a nationwide campaign against colonialera statues.
The metro is still counting the cost of the damage caused then to the city’s heritage sites, estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of rands.
The EFF, which was at the forefront of the campaign and claimed to have carried out the April attack, distanced itself from yesterday’s vandalism.
The cast-iron South African war memorial, of an Afrikaner soldier holding a rifle, was covered in white paint yesterday with the names “Lebo and Vuvu” painted on the ground around it.
Shocked passers-by stopped and stared at the vandalised statue, erected in honour of Uitenhage volunteers killed in the second Anglo-Boer War from 1899 to 1902.
Uitenhage resident Norman Meyer said: “This is ridiculous. Any country has its origins and we should find a way of living with one another and respecting one another’s cultures.”
Street cleaner Michael Machesa said: “We were shocked when we saw that the statue was vandalised this morning.”
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Gerda Swart said a case of damage to property was being investigated.
The EFF in the Bay, which took responsibility for vandalising the statue the first time and damaging the Port Elizabeth Horse Memorial, distanced itself from the latest attack but praised
the culprits. EFF deputy regional chairman Bo Madwara said: “It is not us this time but the EFF supports it [the vandalism] fully because the government is provoking the people by not removing these statues.
“If we knew who did it, we would give them a free EFF beret. Whoever vandalised it should have a statue made in their honour.”
The municipality condemned the vandalism. “This is the second time this same statue has been vandalised within the space of a few months,” municipal spokesman Roland Williams said.
Mayoral committee member for youth, arts and culture, councillor Andiswa Mama, said: “We condemn this vandalism in the strongest possible terms. I have an open door to anyone who wishes to discuss areas of heritage, arts and culture. No one has to resort to the defacing of any memorial sites for any reason.
“Anyone caught and found to be breaking the law will be dealt with in terms of the criminal justice system.”
In a written reply to DA councillor Dean Biddluph’s question about when the vandalised his- torical monuments would be restored, city manager Mpilo Mbambisa said they were still trying to establish how much it would cost and to secure funding for the process.
In an agenda item prepared for tomorrow’s council meeting, Mbambisa writes that various municipal departments are working together to restore the damaged monuments.
“The war memorial in Uitenhage has to be removed and taken to a place of safety as it has been burnt and [we] are currently looking for quotations for its restoration,” he writes.
Mbambisa said the city was also still trying to secure the R145 000 needed to have the marble Queen Victoria statue cleaned by a specialist.
When tabling his budget last week, mayor Danny Jordaan said R8-million would be provided for the upkeep of existing memorial sites.
Williams said the maintenance, management and restoration of all memorials was regulated through the SAHRA Act of 1996.
“Since the first act of vandalism of the statue in April this year, the municipality has been in the process of procuring the specialised technical expertise that is prescribed and required for the restoration of public sculptures.”