Statue of President Paul Kruger, Pretoria

Following the end of Apartheid in South Africa, there had been calls for the removal of the statue from its location due to it being viewed as an "Icon of Apartheid" by some African National Congress activists. In 2015, following the Rhodes Must Fall campaign in Cape Town, the Statue of Paul Kruger was vandalized with green paint thrown on it. The Economic Freedom Fighters initially claimed responsibility, but later retracted this when the City of Tshwane stated its intent to open a Criminal Case of malicious damage against the Perpetrators. Following the vandalism and a pledge by the EFF to destroy the statue, numerous people voiced support for the Statue. Even resorting to a woman chaining herself to the Statue, to prevent further damage, with Afrikaners in Military Uniforms starting to guard the Statue. A Rally also took place next to the Statue requesting it to be left alone as part of South Africa's Cultural History. This Rally ended with Steve Hofmeyr singing the former National Anthem of South Africa, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika". The Statue has subsequently been ringed by 1.5m high fencing and is not directly accessible to the Public!

There are also a number of different, Statue's of Paul Kruger, around the Kruger Park!

 

A radical left-wing Political party in South Africa has called for a statue of Boer leader Paul Kruger to be pulled down and replaced by one of Winnie Mandela. The call is part of an ongoing campaign by theEconomic Freedom Fighters (EFF) group, which has been criticised for using racially-charged language and describes itself as militant. Its leader, Julius Malema, said his party would expropriate the land upon which the statue is standing, according to The Daily Telegraph, and added: "He was a racist.His statue must go, his people with it." Mr. Malema, a former African National Congress youth leader, has previously been convicted of hate speech for singing anti-White songs including ;'Shoot the Boer'.

Kruger was President of the South African Republic between 1883 and 1900 and the Opponent of Britain, during the Second Boer War. Buried a Hero by supporters, he is however seen by most South Africans, as a symbol of an Oppressive System.

Kruger died nearly half a Century before Apartheid was implemented, though people of colour were discriminated against, during the time of the Republic. The figure with whom the EFF proposes to replace him, however, is also controversial. An Anti-Apartheid Campaigner and Member of Parliament, who was married to Nelson Mandela for 37 years, Winnie Mandela, was condemned for Human Rights Violations by the 'South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission'.

The body, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, found she was accountable, Politically and Morally, for the gross violations of Human Rights committed by; the Mandela United Football Club (her bodyguards) who had developed into a private vigilante unit. Winnie Mandela was Convicted of kidnapping and being an accessory to assault after a number of youths were kidnapped and then assaulted in her home, in 1988. Th esix-year prison sentence was reduced on appeal to a fine and a two-year suspended sentence – with the assult connviction being struck down. Mandela had pleaded her innocence.

Statues Commemorating South Africa's past have been hotly debated before and others, including one of Queen Victoria, have been defaced. A Rhodes must fall campaign began when a student threw excrement over a statue of the Colonialist, Cecil Rhodes in 2015, at the University of Cape Town.