Paul Kruger statue defaced again

[caption id="attachment_103897" align="alignright" width="225"] Photo credit: Sipho Masombuka[/caption]

The statue of Paul Kruger in Pretoria's Church Square has yet again been defaced‚ this time with a dark green paint thrown on the four burghers of the monument.

It is not clear when the statue was defaced but right-wing political party Front National spokesperson Francois Cloete said there were rumours flying that the statue would be defaced.

“There was rumours few weeks ago that there would be a defacement in October because of (Paul Kruger) birthday on the 10th (of October). On Saturday we are doing a commemoration of his birthday so it is probably linked to that‚” he said.

The statue was defaced with blobs of lime green paint in April after the ANC Youth League called for the removal of all apartheid and colonial symbols.

Cloete said the defacement amounted to the vandalising of Afrikaner cultural heritage and cultural genocide.

“It is wrong because it is a crime to deface something. If you do not agree‚ do it through dialogue - not harm the statue‚ because it cannot talk back‚” he said.

The Tshwane metro municipality fenced off the statue after the first defacement but parts of the fence were removed during a shooting of a movie on the square.

The municipality is yet to respond to the latest attack on the monument.

Metro police officers have been deployed to watch over the monument and closed the gap with police cordon tape.

Stephanus Johannes Paulus "Paul" Kruger was an Afrikaner political and military leader who served as President of the South African Republic (or Transvaal) from 1883 to 1900. - Sipho Masombuka [The Times, RDM News Wire]