Durban – The board chairperson of the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre has called for the statue of Inkosi Albert Luthuli to be erected in front of the ICC.
Glen Mashinini said it was important to honour Luthuli in the precinct named after him.
He was speaking after a tour of the precinct by eThekwini councillors on Tuesday. The entity briefed councillors on the challenges that it had endured as the result of Covid-19 and the way forward.
He said there was a “striking absence of us acknowledging the first African Nobel peace laureate Inkosi Albert Luthuli”.
“I am not sure in 25 years why we do not have a statue of (Luthuli ) and I think that this is one of the key projects. I hope we will be able to put our heads together to say what we do to honour that giant.”
He said a statue could be erected on either side of the ICC, “so that it completes the naming of the convention centre. I think there is more to be done to ensure that we do honour Inkosi Albert Luthuli for his contribution to where we are today in a democratic South Africa.”
He said the international community honoured Luthuli for his role and it now fell on the country and the city to also honour him
“Part of that is to have iconic symbols. When you travel to Atlanta, there is no way you can go to Atlanta without seeing the statue of Martin Luther King. You cannot go to Soweto without seeing Mandela, but for some reason we seem to be very shy about our heritage,” he said.