DURBAN - Premier Willies Mchunu has blamed the years of delay in building the Indian indentured monument in Durban on disagreements within the Indian community.
The monument, earmarked to be erected near Addington Beach, will commemorate the first arrival of Indian indentured labourers in the province in 1860.
It was first announced by the premier’s office about 10 years ago, but little has been done since, except for a sod turning late last year.
The eThekwini Municipality later took over the responsibility of the construction, with the provincial government pledging to pay for the estimated R50million project.
On Tuesday, Mchunu told the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg that various factions within the Indian community had caused the delay by disagreeing on the model of the monument and also over the construction site.
Forum
“The forum of Indian people given this task of providing us with a model of the monument had their own differences. It was not going to be the government designing the model.”
Mchunu said when the members of the Indian community intensely disagreed among each other, the provincial government and the municipality had to intervene to mediate the dispute.
“It was the beneficiaries themselves who disagreed on where the site should be.
“We believed we addressed all of that, and we believe the process is now on track because we have already turned the sod and we are now waiting for the monument to be built this year because they have now reached an agreement,” he said.
Mchunu was responding to DA MPL Francois Rodgers’ comments. Rodgers described the government’s delay as a disgrace “to the memories of those who should be commemorated and their surviving families”.
“There can simply be no excuse for this embarrassment. This from the department that is controlled by the political head of KwaZulu-Natal.”
Sihle Zikalala, ANC provincial chairman, said the party supported the government’s decision to allocate funds for the pending construction of monuments of heroes and heroines such as King Shaka, Moses Mabhida, Griffiths and Victoria Mxenge, Harry Gwala, Josiah Gumede, Monty Naicker and Pixley ka Isaka Seme.
“But we will never commemorate (Hendrik) Verwoerd and (PW) Botha,” Zikalala said.