Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members converged on the statue of Paul Kruger in central Pretoria today.
Carrying placards saying “Paul Kruger se gat” and “Remove the ancestors of apartheid”, the party members burnt the old South African flag according to IOL.
Tshwane Metro police and members of the tactical response team were stationed in Church square, where the statue was cordoned off with barbed wire.
Earlier this week controversial Afrikaans singer Sunette Bridges symbolically chained herself to the statue, demanding that government protect it.
“It’s not about being an Afrikaner or a right-wing person. It is about caring about the cultural heritage of this country. History is what it is. The very same Paul Kruger said take from history what is good and use that to build a future,” Bridges said.
The sentinels around the statue had previously been defaced with green paint, which the city then cleaned off.
President Jacob Zuma has denounced the targeting of historic monuments by the EFF, saying that the destruction of statues "flies in the face of the preservation of the history of our country, including the repulsive apartheid colonial history".
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