Statues no substitute for governance

ANC must first demonstrate competence, then invite celebration

- NCO DUBE

PEOPLE attend a march for International Women's Day, past the May Pyramid monument in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The march was convened by feminist organisations to press historic demands against gender-based violence, to defend labour rights, and to oppose the economic austerity policies of Argentina's President Javier Milei. I AFP

(AFP)

THEY arrived draped in plastic, then unveiled in bronze. Nelson Mandela now stands at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Oliver Tambo along Durban's beachfront. Two towering figures of our liberation history, placed at sites meant to signal pride, memory, and continuity. Instead, their unveiling has provoked irritation, anger, and a deep national sigh. The backlash has been swift and, in some quarters, unforgiving. But to reduce this moment to a debate about statues is to miss the point entirely. What South Africans are reacting to is not bronze and stone, but a broken relationship between the governed and those who govern.

Let us be clear from the outset. South Africans are not hostile to history. We are not a people allergic to memory, nor are we dismissive of the symbolic power of monuments. On the contrary, we understand their value instinctively. Cities are shaped not only by roads and pipes, but by meaning. The Eiffel Tower is not merely steel. The Statue of Liberty is not just copper. These structures anchor identity, tell stories, and project aspiration. Mandela and Tambo, as architects of our freedom, deserve to be honoured in public space.

But context is everything. And in eThekwini, context is unforgiving.