A KwaZulu-NatalL community will ask the speaker of the provincial legislature, Lydia Johnson, to remove the statue of former colonial governor Sir Theophilus Shepstone and replace it with one of the ANC's founders, Saul Msane.
The Msane Tribe Heritage Trust is expected to deliver a memorandum to Johnson today at the legislature in Pietermaritzburg, according to the trust's researcher and co-ordinator Zwakele Msane.
The revival of the demand to remove Shepstone's statue, Msane said, was partly inspired by the University of Cape Town students, whose resolve led to the removal of the statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes from the campus.
The trust is also demanding that Shepstone's statue and other colonial heritage symbols be removed from the premises of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature. "We've been calling for the removal of the statue since 2011, and again last year, but no one listened to us," Msane said yesterday.
The Msane community said Shepstone, known to locals as Somtsewu, was the colonial government official responsible for land dispossession. They said Shepstone also deposed a lot of legitimate traditional leaders and replaced them with politically appointed chiefs.
Saul Msane, who was an ANC secretary-general, was the founder of the Natal Native Congress, in which he served in the same capacity.
He and former ANC president Josias Gumede met Harriette Colenso, the eldest of missionary Bishop John Colenso's five children, to discuss the formation of a political organisation for Africans, according to the party.
Saul also co-edited the weekly newspaper Umlomo wa Bantu, which he founded, and Abantu Batho, the mouthpiece of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), the forerunner of the ANC.
Saul, a land rights activist, was part of several SANNC delegations to colonial authorities fighting the 1913 Natives Land Act and other laws that further disenfranchised black people.
Legislature spokesman Wonder Hlongwa said officials of the legislature would be meeting the community. He was, however, not aware of the impending delivery of a memorandum. "They have requested a meeting," Hlongwa confirmed.
At a public lecture delivered by Nigerian writer Ben Okri last Thursday, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa pleaded with South Africans to remain calm and for the statues debate to take place in a dignified manner.
Mthethwa also warned that South Africans may share history but not necessarily heritage. "These two, although used interchangeably, are not the same," he said.
sidimbal@sowetan.co.za
Shepstone must follow Rhodes and fall too
A KwaZulu-NatalL community will ask the speaker of the provincial legislature, Lydia Johnson, to remove the statue of former colonial governor Sir Theophilus Shepstone and replace it with one of the ANC's founders, Saul Msane.
The Msane Tribe Heritage Trust is expected to deliver a memorandum to Johnson today at the legislature in Pietermaritzburg, according to the trust's researcher and co-ordinator Zwakele Msane.
The revival of the demand to remove Shepstone's statue, Msane said, was partly inspired by the University of Cape Town students, whose resolve led to the removal of the statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes from the campus.
The trust is also demanding that Shepstone's statue and other colonial heritage symbols be removed from the premises of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature. "We've been calling for the removal of the statue since 2011, and again last year, but no one listened to us," Msane said yesterday.
The Msane community said Shepstone, known to locals as Somtsewu, was the colonial government official responsible for land dispossession. They said Shepstone also deposed a lot of legitimate traditional leaders and replaced them with politically appointed chiefs.
Saul Msane, who was an ANC secretary-general, was the founder of the Natal Native Congress, in which he served in the same capacity.
He and former ANC president Josias Gumede met Harriette Colenso, the eldest of missionary Bishop John Colenso's five children, to discuss the formation of a political organisation for Africans, according to the party.
Saul also co-edited the weekly newspaper Umlomo wa Bantu, which he founded, and Abantu Batho, the mouthpiece of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC), the forerunner of the ANC.
Saul, a land rights activist, was part of several SANNC delegations to colonial authorities fighting the 1913 Natives Land Act and other laws that further disenfranchised black people.
Legislature spokesman Wonder Hlongwa said officials of the legislature would be meeting the community. He was, however, not aware of the impending delivery of a memorandum. "They have requested a meeting," Hlongwa confirmed.
At a public lecture delivered by Nigerian writer Ben Okri last Thursday, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa pleaded with South Africans to remain calm and for the statues debate to take place in a dignified manner.
Mthethwa also warned that South Africans may share history but not necessarily heritage. "These two, although used interchangeably, are not the same," he said.
sidimbal@sowetan.co.za
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