Anger as Mandela statue closed to public on Freedom Day

Many people were disappointed to find the Union Buildings gardens, where the iconic statue of Nelson Mandela stands, closed on Freedom Day yesterday and they instead had to move their celebration to the dirty park nearby.

Freedom Day reflections

In the park, Skhoskho Ronald Sithole said his freedom had nothing to do with the government: “These people made me hate white people. When I went to prison, I started to heal and think for myself. I then realised they were stealing from us.”

Sithole said the government had lied to citizens and used them as pawns in a chess game.

“They just want to gain from us. Like it says in the Bible, we are perishing as a society because we lack knowledge. When we fight, it means we lack knowledge. If I hate you, it’s because we lack the knowledge to understand each other,” he said.

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Iranian tourist robbed while visiting SA

Amin Afahar from Iran visited the Union Buildings, hoping to see the Nelson Mandela statue during his trip to South Africa.
“I Googled the statue of Nelson Mandela and was so excited to see it,” he said. Afahar was disappointed to find the Union Buildings closed.

“The previous night in Checkers, we witnessed a robbery in front of our children. They stole a phone and ran away,” he said.

Afahar said the incident had left him spooked and spoiled his two-week holiday in South Africa with his family.
“In my 33 years alive, I have never seen a robbery before this. Ten days in South Africa and I see it happening in front of me,” he said.

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Afahar said they wanted to visit South Africa to experience the wildlife. At the statue of Louis Botha in the park below the Union Buildings, gospel singer Eddy BT was shooting a music video for his new song.

Eddy explained because they had already booked out the production company to shoot the music video and the gardens were closed off, they had no choice but to improvise in front of the Botha statue instead.

“We are regressing from the past. The problem is, crime and corruption are going up, and we are not dealing with it. But we are resilient, we can get through it. If we could survive apartheid, we can get through this too. We must just stand united,” he said.

Joseph Mogapi said he felt free and had reason to celebrate Freedom Day.
“We are in a democracy. There are many good things, like education and health and the access [to] Sassa [South African Social Security Agency] and welfare and subsidies,” he said.

Mogapi admitted: “There are certain inefficiencies here and there but at least they tell us they are working on things.

“I know they made promises but things change. In 1994, people expected things to change like a miracle, but there are challenges,” he said.

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