Cape Town – Rebel artist group Xcollektiv has taken responsibility for defacing three statues of South African figures in the city centre recently.
The latest statue hit by the group is of former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate FW de Klerk at the V&A Waterfront Nobel Square, with what looks like faeces placed on his head.
Cecil John Rhodes’s statue in the Company’s Garden and that of former Prime Minister Jan Smuts in Adderley Street were defaced with faeces in October as part of the group’s “statement”.
On its Facebook page, the group said why De Klerk was the latest target.
“This history celebrates former State President, FW de Klerk who is complicit in crimes against humanity, including torture, murder and assassination; lying by omission and under oath at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; supporting the machinations and being a functionary of the apartheid state; and for his continuing attempts to influence policy development through his involvement with the Global Leadership Foundation.”
The group told the Cape Times on Tuesday that they were calling for the statues to either be removed, or better contextualised.
“These statues as they stand not only celebrate these individuals as ‘great men’ but through omission mask out the colonial and apartheid-era crimes of these individuals.
“This meant for someone like FW de Klerk literally getting away with murder. He should not have received a Nobel prize,” the collective said.
The collective said the faeces were actually painted clay, glued to the statues with epoxy, but could be removed.
“We will continue with these interventions for as long as the statues remain as is. The post-94 period with its narrative of reconciliation is what we are questioning. The reconciliation project meant whitewashing over the brutality of colonialism and apartheid.
“The crimes of dispossession, land theft, murder, white supremacy,” the group said.
Xcollektiv started in 2012 and consists of 21 visual artist, poets and writers who say they have no leader or spokesperson.
The group was behind the infamous “Wanted” posters that featured political and public figures as stereotypes of criminals, their faces transposed against a police line-up backdrop.
The group’s targets have included former president Jacob Zuma, mayco member for safety and security JP Smith, Shoprite chief executive Whitey Basson and mining magnate Ivan Glasenberg, former Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille and Premier Helen Zille.
It also voiced disdain for gentrification in areas such as Bromwell Street and the trendy Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, with a stencilled, anti-capitalist “Non-Poor Only” sign.
V&A Waterfront spokesperson Donald Kau said: “The incident took place last week. We couldn’t immediately see who placed (the fake faeces) there. “It’s an act of vandalism and we are stepping up visibility of our security personnel around this and other public spaces within the precinct.”
He confirmed that fake faeces were used, and attached to the figure with a epoxy-like substance which security staff had removed.
City of Cape Town spokesperson Vennessa Scholtz said the City did not have any record of the incidents.
FW de Klerk Foundation spokesperson Megan Dick said: “The foundation will not be commenting on something as despicable and uninformed as this act.”