21 monuments for 21 years of freedom
10 April 2015
As the country debates history, heritage and memory, and UCT removes the statue of
Cecil John Rhodes from its campus while other sites are vandalised by protestors, Arts
and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has reminded the country that "heritage sites and
national monuments have cultural significance and value because of their importance to
a community in revealing a pattern of South Africa’s history."
But the country also has a significant number of monuments to peace and freedom
scattered across South Africa – not surprising given its long history of struggle against
oppression. With April marking the 21st anniversary of South Africa’s freedom, Media
Club South Africa showcases 21 monuments that pay homage to
those who made this
country great.
The 21 monuments
The Unknown Miner is a casting of the original prototype of The Diamond Diggers
sculptor Herman Wald created in the 1950s. This statue stands at Wits University in
Johannesburg. Image:
HermanWaldExhibition.com.
Described by The Saturday Star as South Africa's 'factory of death', the gallows at
Pretoria Central Prison saw more than 3 500 hangings. This exhibition at the Apartheid
Museum of 131 nooses represents the number of anti-apartheid activists who were
hanged there. Image:
Apartheid Museum
The bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Pietermaritzburg was unveiled a century
after he was thrown off a train in the town's station. Image: Guillaume Cingal,
Flickr)
With the workmen's quarters housing 396 men, there was no space for privacy.
They slept in long rows of hard concrete 'beds' next to one another. A wooden platform
above the concrete
beds accommodated more men. Image:
City of Johannesburg
The Constitutional Court has become a bastion of South African human rights and
culture. (Image:
Brand
South Africa)
The small town in the Overberg was initially a
refuge for the indigenous Khoi people until it was taken over by hundreds of slaves.
Most its 1 400 residents living there today are descendants of the slaves. (Image:
Wikimedia Commons)
We will continue to update this page as the month of April – Freedom Month –
progresses. Look out for our articles on:
Miners Memorial, or Diggers Fountain, Kimberley
Holocaust Centre, Cape
Town
Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, Johannesburg
Robben Island Museum, Cape Town
Nelson Mandela National Museum, Johannesburg
Nkosi Albert Luthuli Statue
Freedom Charter Monument
Solomon Mahlangu statue
Steve Biko statue, East London
Heroes Park, East London
Desmond Tutu statue, East London
Bhisho Massacre Memorial
SAinfo reporter
First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win – Mahatma Gandhi (Image: Sonia Gandhi)
