Durban - The 9m bronze statues of Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela will soon be on display outside the Durban City Hall after councillors voted in favour of the installation yesterday.
At the council meeting, a resolution to spend R1 million to install the statues was approved. It cost about R22 million to have them made.
The statues have been the subject of controversy, with opposition parties contending it was improper to install statues and rename sites only after ANC heroes.
They also argued that the R1 million should have been part of the initial cost of creating the statues.
Despite the protracted dispute over the issue, the municipality had almost no other option but to approve the installation of the statues, as failing to do so would have meant it would have incurred significant costs in storage fees.
An ANC councillor revealed on Wednesday that the statues were already in the country after they had been shipped from a factory in China.
The matter went down to a vote during the council meeting, with 119 councillors voting in favour of the installation and 75 against.
The DA and the IFP remained steadfast in their objections to the statues and voted against their installation.
However the IFP softened its stance as the party told the council it was willing to vote in favour of the installation of the statue of former president Nelson Mandela.
“We do not approve the spending of public money to install the statue of Tambo, as he was not the president of the country,” said IFP councillor Mzwethu Gwala, revealing that his party would be willing to consider voting in favour of the installation of the statue of Mandela, as he had been a servant of the people.
The ANC councillors thanked those who supported the initiative.
Thembo Ntuli said the statues were an important part of history, and the ANC was open to engaging with other parties on similar matters in the future.
“These leaders are part of our history who have led us to where we are today. The statues are not for the ANC, but for the municipality,” said Ntuli.
ANC councillor Zama Sokhabase told councillors that honouring struggle heroes was not just for politicians: “This is not just for people who are politicians, but for everyone who has done something memorable for the people of this country.”