Paul Kruger under attack

The Paul Kruger statue in the Pretoria city centre was attacked shortly after the EFF tabled a motion to rename the Kruger National Park.

Paul Kruger was a South African politician and one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa.

He served as the State President of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1900 and was the face of the Boer cause against Britain during the Second Boer War.

The second Anglo-Boer War started on 11 October 1899. Paul Kruger attended the last session of the Volksraad and, on 29 May 1900, fled from Pretoria as Lord Roberts advanced on the town.

He remained underground for weeks and eventually took refuge with his European allies, as the war continued.

In October 1900, he left from Lourenco Marques, and Dutch Queen Wilhelmina sent the battleship, De Gelderland, to transport him.

His wife, Gezina Kruger, was very ill when the party left and was unable to accompany them. She died on 20 July 1901.

Kruger’s party landed in Marseilles. He travelled through Europe to Holland, where he stayed for the remainder of the war.

His last respite was at Oranjelust in Utrecht, and it was here that he received the news that the Treaty of Vereeniging had been signed.

Paul Kruger moved to Clarens in Switzerland where he stayed for the last six months of his life and died on 14 July 1904.

He was buried on 16 December 1904, in the Church Street cemetery, Pretoria. He is a beloved figure in Afrikaans culture and is affectionately known as Oom Paul.

The Kruger National Park was named after him, and there is a large bronze sculpture of Paul Kruger located in Church Square in Pretoria.

It is situated in front of the Rustenburg Town Hall and depicts Kruger during the last days of his exile. A French sculptor, Archard, made it.

Paul Kruger under attack

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has reopened the debate over apartheid- and colonial-era statues and memorials in South Africa.

The left-wing political party is calling for an investigation into the statues’ presence in public spaces in South Africa.

EFF National Chairperson Nontando Nolutshungu tabled a draft resolution in Parliament to examine the status of symbols and statues across the country.

“Across South Africa, in front of this very parliament, and in the heart of Tshwane, statues of colonial conquerors and apartheid leaders stand unchallenged,” said Nolutshungu.

She also called for the removal of the Paul Kruger statue outside the Union Buildings and criticised the presence of Jan Van Riebeeck’s statue in Cape Town.

The EFF has also tabled a motion in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature calling for the renaming of the Kruger National Park.

More recently, the Paul Kruger statue group in the Pretoria city centre was attacked and damaged.

A gun barrel and a boot from two of the Boer warrior statues which flank the Kruger statue were broken off. The security fence around the statues was also damaged.

EFF Spokesperson Sinawo Thambo described the event as “great news”.

“It looks like it may be safer to put the statues of colonialists and racists in designated museums for their own safety!” he wrote.

Ernst van Zyl, Head of Public Relations at AfriForum, described this incident as the latest example of the attack on Afrikaner heritage that is currently intensifying.

“It is no coincidence that this attack comes in the week after the EFF called for the destruction of this specific monument and others associated with the white minority,” he said.

“AfriForum will fight to defend Afrikaner heritage, but at the same time also continue to erect new monuments, institutions, and statues.”

Democratic Alliance (DA) Tshwane caucus whip Jacqui Uys said that “South Africa’s inner city public spaces and monuments reflect our complex and difficult history, and should be protected for cultural and historical memory.”

“We should not be seeking to erase the history of any community in South Africa.”

Damage to statues