SA has lost count of Tata Nelson Mandela statues. Recently, two new Mandela statues worth millions were unveiled in the Eastern Cape and it seems more are in the pipeline.
The Moqhaka municipality might be contemplating a Mandela statue as it said he slept over in a Kroonstad town hotel while he was in hiding and Odendaalsrus town in Matjhabeng municipality too can campaign for another statue because he visited his fellow Robben Island comrade elder Hlabahlaba upon his release from Victor Verster prison.
Worse still, in Mafube municipality the 2m tall statue of anti-apartheid stalwart Mme Albertina Sisulu is being erected in Tweeling, a small hometown of former premier Sesi Ntombela in Free State. Because SA is governed by events, it won't be surprising if few millions were spent on the unveiling ceremony. It's anybody guess.
How on earth is a Nepal tourist expected to travel to that part of the world just for a picture with the statue? Most people wonder what informed such decisions by Free State leaders to construct an Albertina Sisulu statue for such a poor community of less that 8,000 people rather than building a factory in her name that'll hire unemployed locals. Maybe former premier Ntombela conceived the statue idea as her legacy for Free State people. Or could it be a scholar Thomas Sowell was dead-on when he wrote: “Politics is the art of making your selfish desires seems like the national interest."
ANC SG Fikile Mbalula is correct to call municipalities to order regarding unnecessary spending of money on Mandela statues and sacrificing service delivery. Surely, the costs of all Mandela statues could build almost 20 state of the art community halls for various activities that'll benefit communities. Africans are people with rich untapped history, knowledge, and so on and leaders should consult those with the know-how before imposing their wishes.
Jerry Tsie, Pretoria
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