Uproar over Zuma monument
Pretoria. The unveiling of a monument to honour South Africa President Jacob Zuma at a site where he was captured by the apartheid security forces in Groot Marico, North West province has stirred an uproar.
Although it is unclear how much was spent on the monument, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) picketed at the site on Wednesday where the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was unveiling the monument. The party claimed millions of rand had been spent.
The Heritage Site uses pictures to tell the story of President Zuma and 45 other activists who were intercepted by security police at Groot Marico in June 1963, leading to them serving prison terms on Robben Island.
Residents in the area have expressed anger over the development, saying it will not benefit the community.
DA has labelled the site "a monument of corruption and unemployment", saying that is the only history that the monument will record in South Africa.
"Our country has been broken by Zuma’s Presidency. Nine million South Africans are unemployed, corruption is flourishing and the state has been captured by the cronies of the president's. This is the real 'capture' that the 'Jacob Zuma Capture Site Monument' will record," DA spokesperson Nicolize van der Walt, said.
Residents of Groot Marico said government could have focused more on developing their township before building a statue.
They said the unemployment rate among youth was high, infrastructure was in poor condition and there was a lack of basic services.
Resident Pastor Evans Magopolo said the government could have created farming cooperatives in an area where 80 per cent of the people were farm dwellers.
"We don't have a primary school, water and jobs. We are going to see that statue every time but it will not help us with anything," he said.
Another resident, Abey Sekgalo said their children struggled with school transport, but the government had not been of help.
"Our children use scholar transport that always breaks down."
However, North West government spokesman Brian Setswambung is convinced there were many monumental benefits to having the statue built in the area.
"Our children will, through this statue, know the selflessness of our struggle icons and the role they played in defeating apartheid and ushering in a democratic order," he said.
The Groot Marico Heritage Site, featuring prominently the Arrest Site of President Zuma, is being developed as part of the liberation heritage programme of government, aimed at recording, preserving, restoring and promoting all heritage sites which form part of the rich liberation heritage and history of the country.
The second phase of the Heritage Site is a house which is designed for use as a venue for small groups of people for meetings and events and will have a craft centre.
After receiving a train ticket from the ANC, President Zuma, aged 21 then, left Durban for Johannesburg on the June 8, 1963. The following day, together with other young men, they left Johannesburg for the Lobatse border with the intent of crossing the border into exile in Botswana.
The minibus he was traveling in was intercepted by police, leading to his arrest and detention in Groot Marico police stations. (NMG)
