Outrage after Steve Biko’s statue in East London City Hall defaced with blue paint.
CAPE TOWN - The statue of the late Black Consciousness Movement founder, Steve Biko, which stands in front of the East London City Hall in the Eastern Cape has been defaced.
The statue which was erected to commemorate Biko’s contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle was unveiled in the city in 1997.
The statue has been vandalised twice in two years.
Buffalo City Municipality spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said: “We have noted with disappointment the vandalism of this iconic Municipal asset. This is a very important statue that carries historical value for educating locals but for tourists as well. It’s a cowardly crime that is in the form of a sickening act.
“We have also have noticed that other municipal assets like electricity power station unit along Cambridge road are painted in similar fashion.
“We are working with law enforcement agencies who will hopefully activate CCTV cameras in front of the City Hall to make a breakthrough. Also our Heritage Department is working on the matter to solve it and restore it’s dignity,“ he said.
DA councillor in Buffalo City Sue Bentley said this was second time the statue was vandalised to this extent.
“The first time it was defaced with white paint which the Municipality cleaned up, and this time it was blue paint. The statue is also used by some men as a urinal, and you can clearly see that on the one side of the statue.
“There were some big names that put money behind that statue to get it erected, such as Richard Attenborough, Kevin Kline, Richard Branson and Denzel Washington, among others,” she said.
Bentley added that several other statues have been vandalised in the City Hall precinct, including that of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
She and other party members cleaned up the statue using sponges, brushes and detergents.
“We will remove the last bits in Saturday as we ran out of cleaning materials on Freedom Day, ” Bentley said.
Black People National Crisis Committee (BPNCC) spokesperson Songezo Mazizi said: “This goes to show how divided South Africa is at the social level of our society. The dignity of Black people in South Africa is not yet restored when this kinds of racism takes place,” said Mazizi.
Cape Times