The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal province has outlined a plan to remove the statues of the apartheid and colonial figures and replace them with the statues of the freedom fighters.
The ruling party has received backing for a proposal to erect the statue of King Goodwill Zwelithini at the KZN Legislature and remove the statue of the British Queen Victoria and take it to the Museum of Shame. When the late King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu passed on, on the 12 March 2021, he had been on the throne as the AmaZulu King for over 50 years.
According to Mr Siboniso Duma, the KZN ANC Chairperson and MEC for Economic Development and Environmental Affairs, the erection of the statues of the significant leaders and icons forms part of heritage project aimed at addressing the imbalances of the apartheid era by removing the statues and memorials that recognise and commemorate only one side of the country’s history.
There has been an on-going debate about removing the statue of Queen Victoria, outside the KZN Legislature in Pietermaritzburg and replacing it with that of King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, to honour the late monarch’s contribution to the development and peace building in the province (Timeslive, 29 June 2023). According to Sibusiso Mboto (IOL, 30 June 2023), the statue of Queen Victoria represents oppression, which is why the KZN heritage authorities and the provincial democratic government believe that this statue belongs to the museum of shame.
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According to Soyiso Maliti (News 24, 30 June 2023), proper consultation with the royal family is essential before erecting the proposed statue, to avoid mistakes since they understand the cultural procedures to be followed from conception to the final stages. The erection of King Goodwill Zwelithini’s statue outside the KZN legislature will tell the untold history of the province and has the potential of attracting tourists and investment to the Northern parts of the KZN province, areas such as Ulundi, Vryheid, Nongoma and others which will serve as an economic boost to the rural towns with a wealth of cultural history, but fail to attract the sustainable number of tourists due to the lack of proper marketing and promotion.
The opposing political parties such as the IFP, NFP, EFF are in full support of this initiative, and they all believe that the late King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was a unifying figure in the province and deserved to be honoured and commemorated with a statue, to ensure that he is not forgotten due to the significant role he played in nation building, however, the DA feels like this move is politically motivated to position the ruling party for success in the 2024 national elections.
According to Sibusiso Mboto (IOL, 30 June 2023), the UKZN Emeritus Professor of History, Prof Donal McCraken supports the erection of King Goodwill Zwelithini’s statue, but is against the destruction of memorials of the colonial and apartheid eras and suggested that they are kept in the museums.
As much as the motion to remove the statue of Queen Victoria from the KZN Legislature and replace it with King Goodwill Zwelithini’s has been supported by various structures, however juxta-positioning the two statues would be perceived as a symbol of reconciliation, unity and nation-building between the racial groups co-existing in the province and would be a point of reference for the future generations about the painful past we had to endure as a nation before becoming the democratic state.
It would also support the affirmation by the first democratic president of South Africa, Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela that South Africa belongs to all that live in it.
MABUYI GUMEDE
Department of Cultural and Heritage Tourism
University of KwaZulu-Natal
College of Humanities
Durban, South Africa
[email protected]
