VANDALISING OF LOUIS BOTHA STATUE OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT

9 April 2015

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip regards the defacing of the statue outside Parliament and others elsewhere in the country as sheer acts of hooliganism and criminality which should be frowned upon by all sensible and law-abiding South Africans.

The malicious damage of statues at certain locations in the cover of darkness signifies nothing but cowardice by those seeking to opportunistically piggyback on the publicity generated by the successful campaign led by the progressive students of the University of Cape Town regarding the statue of Cecil Rhodes.

There's nothing courageous or heroic by peacetime 'fighters' or 'revolutionaries' who go around kicking doors that are already open and subverting due processes merely for media attention. While the UCT campaign was initially blemished by a lawless act of strewing poo on the statue, it was generally peaceful and involved rational discourse and dialogue - which resulted in the university Council taking a decision to remove the statue today.

The UCT students' campaign was thus more than just about the statue, but it was significant within the context of a lack of transformation at the institution in the last 20 years. The hooligans, some of whom have shamelessly come out to claim responsibility, are not driven by any rationality or substance, but by a lust for publicity and self- aggrandisement.

The process of transformation, which the ANC government began in 1994 in line with the national democratic revolution, is overarching and has encompassed the changing of thousands of offensive apartheid-era monuments, names of roads, buildings, airports, cities, towns and provinces - amongst others. The all-encompassing political, social and economic transformation is not an event but an on-going process implemented in the spirit of reconciliation and nation-building and under strict legal framework. While the ANC would not support monuments that are offensive to certain sections of our population, we remain firm in our view that any proposed change ought to follow longstanding procedures which have been in place for the past 21 years of democracy.

Therefore anyone who undermines the established legal processes and indulges in criminal acts that border on populism must face the full wrath of the law. In this regard, we welcome the arrest of the culprits behind the vandalising of the statue outside Parliament and call on law enforcement agencies to deal with such populist criminals with the appropriate firmness under the law.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, April 9 2015

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