These South African statues could still fall

10 April 2015 - 16:07 By Bernice Maune
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With the Cecil John Rhodes statue having fallen this week, and the Paul Kruger memorial facing increasing calls for its removal, we take a look at several statues which may face a similar fate.

Pretoria

The city has several memorials built to honour past colonial leaders. The most prominent of these is The Voortrekker monument which stands at the entry of the city. It is home to the statues of Andries Pretorius, General Louis Botha, Hendrick Potgieter and Piet Retief.

Pretorius and Potgieter both had streets named after them with Potgieter street changed by the Tshwane municipality a few years ago to honour struggle heroes. A stone symbol dedicated to Danie Theron in Schanskop, close to the Voortrekker monument also stands.

As the capital city of the country, Pretoria is home to the Union Buildings, the seat of government housing both the presidency and department of foreign affairs. Located on the Buildings property are a statue of two former SA prime ministers; General Louis Botha and JBM Hertzog among others.

In the middle of the city, stands Church Square where statues of Paul Kruger and other Boer leaders who led the country from the late 1800s to 1900. The Tshwane council opted to retain a street bearing Kruger's name. Kruger's statue has been defaced with green paint by EFF supporters recently.

Bloemfontein

The legislative capital bears Hertzog square which has a statue of the JBM Hertzog, former prime minister of South Africa.

Krugersdorp

To the north of  Krugesrdorp, lies another statue of Kruger. The former president of South Africa was seemingly immortalised in several monuments dedicate to honouring his memory around the country.

Durban

Ethekwini has several major statues with Queen Victoria, Sir John Robinson – the first Prime Minister of Natal, Harry Escombe, Jan Christian Smuts and a commemorative statue of volunteers who died in the war from 1899 to 1902.

According to showme.co.za, a monument has been erected in the memory of local soldiers who passed away during World Wars I and II.

The city also houses the Dick King and John Ross statues which commemorate the Englishmen for their efforts in fighting the Voortrekkers. The King John V statue was vandalised when students threw white paint on it shortly after the Rhodes saga at UCT.

Port Elizabeth

The statue of Queen Victoria has also been defaced as well as the horse memorial which was erected in memory of the thousands of horses that died during the Anglo Boer war.

Cape Town

The Mother city has several statues dedicated to colonialists, former leaders and the imperial state.

There is Bartholomeu Dias, who discovered Cape of Good Hope, Jan Van Riebeeck who is credited with having founded the Cape colony, Sir George Grey a governor of the Cape, British monarch Queen Victoria and King Edward, Jan Hendrick Hofmeyer, who led the Afrikaner Bond at one time and Jan Smuts.

These statues are scattered all over the city with several of them on the parliamentary property and in the central business district.

Sources - presidency.gov.za, Citizen, walkthecape.wordpess.com

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