News just in on Twitter reveals that the Louis Botha statue outside parliament in Cape Town has been defaced. This comes directly after the University of Cape Town officially voted to remove the Cecil John Rhodes statue from its campus. In recent weeks, a number of statues across South Africa, which represent the country’s colonial and white supremacist past, have been sources of contention for both the public and political parties. While the ANC Youth League wants the removal of the statue of Paul Kruger in Pretoria, the EFF claimed responsibility last Friday for setting alight the War Memorial statue in Uitenhage’s Market Square. Views on the removals of the statues are certainly polarised, with many believing that removing statues representing South Africa’s past only serves to fuel the fire of racial segregation. – Tracey Ruff
From News24
Cape Town – The statue of Louis Botha outside the gates of Parliament was smeared with red and blue paint on Wednesday night.
The words “Louis Botha Farmer Warrior Statesman” on the base of the statue were covered in red paint, while darker paint was splashed on the statue of Botha on his horse.
News24’s Lauren Hess reported that a police officer on duty outside Parliament said the statue was defaced when she arrived at work at 06:00.
Netwerk24 reported that EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi tweeted “Botha must go” along with a picture of the defaced statue, but the party has not claimed responsibility for it.
The incident took place amid a national debate on the future of colonial-era statues around the country. The University of Cape Town Council decided on Wednesday that the statue of Cecil John Rhodes on the steps of the university’s upper campus be removed.
Botha fought during the South African War and later became prime minister of the Union of South Africa. He established the South African Party with Jan Smuts, Netwerk24 reported.
Just in via @Morrow_Steven Louis Botha statue outside Parliament in Cape Town defaced this morning pic.twitter.com/WoY7nftGvG
— AlgoaFMNews (@AlgoaFMNews) April 9, 2015