North West won't back down on Zuma statue

President Jacob Zuma

President Jacob Zuma

Published Feb 24, 2017

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The North West government will continue with its plans to erect a statue of President Jacob Zuma in Groot Marico near Zeerust, Premier Supra Mahumapelo insisted on Friday.

“In pursuit of the heritage liberation route, the fifth administration decided to erect a capture site of President (Jacob) Zuma in Groot Marico. President Zuma was arrested in Groot Marico when he was on his way to skip the country to fight apartheid.

We cannot erase South African history, we wish the police who arrested him can come forward so that we discuss and preserve this history. We are not going to be irresponsible in executing this mandate,” he said during the State of the Province äddress (Sopa).

He explained that a decision to honour people who fought for liberation was taken in 2009 and the current provincial government was implementing the 2009 decision.

“We are going to honour the families who help liberation fighters when they went to exile, we want to talk to those who are still alive to have audio and visual records of this historic event.”

Zuma, together with a group of 45 Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) recruits, were captured by apartheid security forces in 1963 at Groot Marico while they were attempting to leave the country for military training abroad. Zuma was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which he served on Robben Island.

However, the Democratic Alliance in North West has come down hard on the provincial government, saying the money to erect the statue of Zuma statue should rather be spent on service delivery and job creation.

“The six metre tall bronze statue of Jacob Zuma, which I have called a monument to corruption and unemployment, will be the Nkandla of the North West. The statue will be a multimillion-and splurge of public money, to exult and deify Jacob Zuma, taking money from the public and leaving the people poorer,” said DA provincial leader Joe McGluwa.

McGluwa said the statue millions could alleviate hundreds of bucket toilets in Gopane instead of building a monument to corruption.

But the provincial government said the benefits of the statue from a historical perspective were monumental in that children would, through this statue, know the selflessness of struggle icons and the role they played in defeating apartheid and ushering in a democratic order.

The statue would also serve as a great tourist attraction to people visiting landmarks which have historical value in the province.

African News Agency

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