Church Square – Pretoria.ws

On Friday, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa gave a report-back on work being done to transform South Africa’s heritage landscape. He noted it was necessary to continue to dismantle the apartheid social structure, including the removal of colonial and apartheid-era monuments and place names. The process initiated by Mthethwa in 2015 was a response to incidents surrounding statues in public spaces, after the demand for the removal of a statue of Cecil John Rhodes at the University of Cape Town. It sparked a national debate over the transformation of the heritage landscape to foster a new national identity. Among the resolutions taken was that there was a need to create civic awareness and national consciousness using shared symbols such as the flag and national anthem, while offensive names and other "symbols of hate" should be removed. However, this did not mean every old name and statue had to be removed. Where such symbols reflected separate histories, an i…

OOM Paul’s statue at Church Square is the subject of debate yet again, after the city council resolved to support a motion by the EFF that it be excluded from the Lalela Freedom of Expression Monument. However, there is still no mention of whether the statue will be removed or not. The resolution was passed during a council sitting on Thursday. It was opposed by the ANC, which said this would be “against the party policies on statues and heritage”. Last year, mayor Solly Msimanga said Church Square would be transformed into a place of open-air entertainment, called the Lalela Freedom of Expression Monument. Work has already started at the historic site. Msimanga said the Lalela project was aimed at bringing about vibrancy in public activities in the inner city. At the time, he said the statue would remain in place as the inner city regeneration project changed the face of Church Square around it. EFF councillor MoAfrika Mabogwane proposed that Paul Kruger’s st…