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News - Date: 18 November 2005
The theft of the statue of Louis Trichardt last week was seen by the mayor of the Makhado Municipality as negative for the image of the town.
It could give the impression that "we are a lawless society", said Mayor Rhulani Nkuzana at a meeting on November 9 where some solutions to the problem also emerged. The mayor and other officials met with a delegation of the Chairperson's Association to discuss the issue of the stolen statue and a possible policy on cultural symbols. "We regard the theft of the statue in a very serious light and we regard the statue of Louis Trichardt as a valuable asset," the Mayor said.
The incident occurred possibly on Sunday night (6th) when the statue was mysteriously removed from its location in Fort Hendrina and found the next morning on the premises of the Lalapanzi Hotel.
The mayor pointed to the painting of the statue of Makhado in the colours of the former South African flag, the painting of road signs in the same colours and the theft of the statue of Trichardt, as incidents which scare away investors. The fact that people should be allowed to show respect to either Makhado or Louis Trichardt was also emphasized by the mayor.
The assurance was given that the municipality wanted to start a process of communication as to where the statue of Louis Trichardt should be taken to as a short-term solution. The Mayor quoted former president Nelson Mandela who said that there is nothing as strong as people's history. This fact was again underlined by Mr Alec Samil from the Buys community who said that one cannot wish away the history of Louis Trichardt just as one cannot wish away the Venda or the Shangaan or the Buys community.
Mr Peter Magwala, acting municipal manager and Director: Corporate Servicesm and Mrs Inga Gilfillan, secretary of the Chairpersons Association, were appointed as a task team to speed up the matter of an interim relocation of the statue as well as the investigation of other related matters. A long-term solution was suggested by the Chairpersons Association, a non-political organization representing 87 000 members from the Shangaan, Afrikaans, English, Indian, Venda and Buys communities. The chairperson, Mr André Naudé, suggested that a park be designated where statues of all cultural groups could be exhibited as a tourist attraction and a way to learn about each other's history."
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