CAPE TOWN - A Mossel Bay resident has expressed outrage over the vandalism and damage to the town’s historical war memorial.
The Mossel Bay War Memorial was established by the Moth Shellhole Veteran Organisation to commemorate soldiers from the region who fought in the 1st and 2nd World Wars, as well as the Korean War, and all the soldiers who guarded the borders.
Local military veteran Anthony Janse van Rensburg expressed concern over the damage in a post on his Facebook page.
He said while visiting the memorial on Heritage Day with his wife, he was met with graffiti scribbled on some of the plaques.
“For those of you not familiar with the Cenotaph, it is the War Memorial for fallen Soldiers at the Point.
“The names of all Mossel Bay Soldiers who perished in WW1, WW2, the Korean War, the Border War and Iraqi War are inscribed on the face of the Cenotaph.
“The Cenotaph is normally not locked as anyone wishing to pay respect to these heroes may do so at any time.
“I sure hope the Cenotaph will be sanitised, cleaned and spruced up as soon as possible, as on November 14, Mossel Bay will once again be hosting what promises to be it’s biggest ever Remembrance Memorial Service,” he wrote.
Mossel Bay director for community services, Elize Nel, said the municipality has inspected the area.
“Mossel Bay Municipality inspected the cenotaph after rumours of vandalism and littering.
“A team was sent in to remove the rubbish and clean the area. The municipal law enforcers in conjunction with the City Improvement District (CID) will monitor the area,” Nel said.
Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has condemned criminal acts of vandalism and hate speech after a racial inscription was written on the mural of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu at the weekend.
“Ek is ‘n k****r`` was written over Tutu’s glasses.
The commission’s spokesperson André Gaum called for the police to act.
“What was done in the case of the Tutu artwork is particularly shameful and hateful and shows that a lot still needs to be done to fight racism in our rainbow nation, as the Arch baptised it.
“To express such hate towards him, is simply shocking, deplorable and disgusting. If the perpetrator/s of this can be identified, the Commission will most definitely take them to the Equality Court to be dealt with,” he said.
Cape Times