{"id":84819,"date":"2015-04-13T15:15:36","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T13:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=84819"},"modified":"2015-04-13T15:15:36","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T13:15:36","slug":"a-timeline-of-how-sa-statues-were-targeted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/84819\/a-timeline-of-how-sa-statues-were-targeted\/","title":{"rendered":"A timeline of how SA statues were targeted"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Gandhi monument in Johannesburg is the latest statue to be defaced by protesters\u00a0– and a number of other statues across South Africa may\u00a0face\u00a0a similar fate.<\/p>\n

On Monday (13 April), the Gandhi Monument in Johannesburg became the latest victim to the sweeping trend of statue defacement happening across the country.<\/p>\n

According to IOL, a group of people wearing ANC caps defaced the statue with white paint, carrying placards saying “Racist Gandhi must fall”. The ANC \u00a0has since condemned the attack.<\/p>\n

Gandhi had spent his formative years in South Africa as a lawyer, who had secured many legal concessions for the local Indian population in the country.<\/p>\n

His work influenced the ANC’s civil rights movement in its early years of struggle against apartheid in South Africa.<\/p>\n

#Statuesmustfall<\/h3>\n

Following the taking down of the Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town, there has been a growing call for other colonial-era monuments to be taken down.<\/p>\n

The cry has been largely led by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), with other political parties, including the DA and the ANC, warning against brash action.<\/p>\n

In an interview with News24<\/a>, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said that the country’s history could not be destroyed, and attempts to do so would polarise society.<\/p>\n

Mantashe took that stance that the call to remove all colonial-era statues was “opportunistic”, “anarchy” and “dangerous”.<\/p>\n

“You don’t use a hammer to deal with sensitive issues. You don’t deface statues,” he said.<\/p>\n

A number of other prominent South African statues have been put in the crosshairs, including statues at the Union Buildings, which include two former SA prime ministers; General Louis Botha and JBM Hertzog.<\/p>\n

In Cape Town, monuments and statues dedicated to colonial icons such as\u00a0Bartholomeu Dias,\u00a0Jan Van Riebeeck,\u00a0Jan Smuts, Queen Victoria and King George and many others remain untouched.<\/p>\n

Here is a timeline of the current wave of statues that have been defaced by protesters.<\/p>\n

9 March<\/h3>\n

Rhodes memorial<\/strong><\/p>\n

The monument to British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes was the first to be defaced when a UCT student smeared feces on the statue in early March.<\/p>\n

The statue was eventually taken down on 9 April.<\/p>\n