Durban — EThekwini Municipality has invested millions of rand in vanished statues of global freedom icons Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo.
In a disappearing act unrivalled by Houdini, the city poured almost R24 million into the project which consisted of two 9m-high bronze statues – the biggest project of its kind in the country and originally commissioned around 2018 – but they are yet to be seen.
The Independent on Saturday has learnt that the R22m contract with the artist Lungelo Gumede was cancelled at the end stages of the job and at least R4m of the money, which was to be used by him to oversee the installation of the statues, was not paid to him.
The municipality has repeatedly said it could not divulge the name of the artist, while Gumede refused to confirm any information when approached for comment.
During the initial stages of the project and almost a year before the country went into Covid-19 lockdown, the city released a statement saying: “The landscape of eThekwini Municipality is due to change dramatically. Thanks to two giant statues of world icons in the form of former president Nelson Mandela and erstwhile president of the ANC Oliver Tambo that are to be erected in Durban.
“The statues are expected to be one of the city’s quintessential tourist attractions once unveiled later this year. This Thursday, January 10, 2019, the city will introduce a young sculptor who won the tender to craft the images of Africa’s unrivalled icons of the liberation struggle.”
Almost six years later the statues are apparently in storage and even opposition parties have not laid eyes on them. Instead, the city has asked for another R1m to have the statues installed while a further R400 000 was requested reportedly for storage fees. What happened to the money allegedly withheld from the artist, where the statues are now and why there has been a delay in the installation all remain unanswered.
This week IFP eThekwini caucus leader Mdu Nkosi called for an immediate investigation into the matter, saying the money was stolen.
“This is how we’re losing money for the ratepayers, whereby when decisions have been made there is no implementation until we forget about them. But an investigation is required into this matter,” said Nkosi.
According to the minutes of the council’s executive committee (Exco) meeting held in October 2022, it recommended that “authority be granted to the head: parks, recreation and culture to incur expenditure in the amount of R1 000 000 to install two 9m bronze statues of OR Tambo and Nelson Mandela which were commissioned by the eThekwini Municipality before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and currently in the process of being shipped from the foundry to the Durban Harbour.”
The IFP and the DA were out-voted by the ANC and its allies at the meeting.
When the IOS last reported on the matter in 2022, the statues were on the way back from China where they had been sent for bronzing. They were expected to be installed along Church Walk in the City Hall precinct.
“I remember as IFP, we complained about statutes being taken overseas for bronzing, and then brought back. I even spoke about the issue of security and who is paying for the storage.
“Obviously, there’s security day and night and who is paying for that? Obviously, it’s ratepayers,” said Nkosi.
“They must tell us why the statutes are not there, because they outvoted us.
“What are they going to say now, if you start questioning about the statutes that are not there?” asked Nkosi.
The IOS understands that the artist had sent the statues to China for bronzing because the local foundries did not have enough material for the project and it would have taken months before the supply could be imported.
It is believed the artist paid for the statues to be taken to China as well as the bronzing.
Once they were ready to be shipped back home, the city allegedly stepped in, cancelled the contract and payed for the trip back to South Africa.
It is unknown what happened to the remainder of the contract money not paid to the artist that was said to have been withheld to pay for the installation.
The IOS has it on good authority that the city has not been able to find a person or company with the requisite skills to do the installation.
Last year, DA councillor Remona Mckenzie wrote to the city manager to address the issue of wasteful expenditure relating to the statues, saying the installation costs should have been factored into the original amount allocated for it.
“The two statues – together costing roughly R22 million – of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo arrived in June 2023 and were supposed to be erected along Church Walk, but still remain in storage,” McKenzie wrote in a document in this newspaper’s possession.
“This has resulted in irregular, fruitless, wasteful and unauthorised expenditure of R399 364.95 and more.”
Mackenzie noted that the project started in 2017 and acknowledged that “historic figures should be recognised. However, from inception of this project we have said that this would incur expenses that would be far better utilised on service delivery to our communities”.
According to another council document, the money she referred to was to be paid to African Logistics Services for “delays in finalising of customs associated with storage for the OR Tambo and Nelson Mandela statues”.
The company would not go on record about the matter this week but further investigations revealed it had apparently only assisted with clearance at the harbour and not storage.
In her response to questions, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said: “Currently, the statues are stored in one of the municipality’s storage facilities while the installation process is being finalised. Once the process has been finalised the public will be informed.
“The information communicated in 2022 remains unchanged including the costs involved. Information pertaining to the artist cannot be divulged to a third party due to legal implications associated with the MoA signed with the appointed service provider.
“For the record, the statues were not sent to the People’s Republic of China and we need to clarify this misinformation.
“The appointed artist decided to cast or use the foundry in the People’s Republic of China and this was the artist’s decision, not the municipality’s, and we could not interfere with the work or decision of the artist as per the legally binding service level agreement.”
For now, though, there has been no full account of the costs of the vanished statues and no word on when they will be installed.
Independent on Saturday