RE-INAUGURATION OF GREAT TREK MONUMENT DAMAGED BY MAYOR

This coming Saturday, 29 May, AfriForum, the Standerton council member Rosier de Ville and the Action Committee Standerton will re-inaugurate Standerton's Great Trek memorial stone, which was damaged by the town's previous mayor, Ms Queen Radebe-Khumalo. Flip Buys, general secretary of Solidarity, will be the main speaker at the event.

In 2008 AfriForum and the community of Standerton succeeded in obtaining a court order to repair and re-inaugurate the memorial stone.

The details are as follows:

Date: Saturday, 29 May 2010
Time:10:30
Place:  In front of the Standerton Town Hall

The Great Trek memorial stone, which was erected at the Standerton Town Hall in 1988 as part of the 150-year commemoration of the Great Trek, was dug up with a trench excavator on 12 April 2007 at the instruction of Radebe-Khumalo. The stone was seriously damaged and tossed onto a rubbish heap. According to council documents, the municipality planned on doing the same with the concentration camp memorial stone.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, the re-inauguration sends a clear message to all communities in the country that they are not powerless when facing people in positions of power who abuse their powers. "Members of the Standerton community did not get despondent, and instead of just complaining about the damaged memorial stone they took action and after repeated efforts they succeeded in holding the authorities accountable," Kriel added.

According to Kriel, the re-inauguration is not only a victory for AfriForum, De Ville and the residents of Standerton, but for everyone in the country who want to promote mutual recognition and respect between communities and who believe that cultural heritage should be conserved.

Statement issued by Kallie Kriel, CEO: AfriForum, May 26 2010

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