Cape Town - Due to the risk of continued vandalism, the City of Cape Town has decided on an alternative method of preserving the Gugulethu Seven Memorial.
The memorial was erected to commemorate the death of seven young black activists from Gugulethu who were killed by the apartheid police on March 3, 1986. The seven young men were Mandla Simon Mxinwa, Zanisile Zenith Mjobo, Zola Alfred Swelani, Godfrey Jabulani Miya, Christopher Piet, Themba Mlifi and Zabonke John Konile.
The monument has been subject of debate for a long time after it was defaced and vandalised by the locals. This led to the community accusing the City of neglecting this historic site and some proposing that the site be fenced.
Mayco member for Urban Mobility, Rob Quintas, said the City is aware of the vandalised memorial and they have engaged with the Western Cape government’s Heritage Department about the need for maintenance.
“Due to the risk of continued vandalism it was decided that there was a need to look at alternative methods of preserving the story of the Gugulethu 7, and it may be prudent to consider a format of exhibition panels which can be displayed in the local library, as well as in a digital format,” said Quintas.
Azanian People's Organisation Chairperson’s provincial chairperson, Zanewonga Bedeni said the moment was built to commemorate very important people in South Africa’s history who paid the ultimate price for the freedom of this country.
“Government has a tendency of building things and don’t protect them, we must build things and monitor them, so that these things can be preserved for generations to come. We therefore want the city to protect this memorial and build a fence around it. Anything else we won’t accept. The memorial belongs in Gugulethu, not in a museum or library,” said Bedeni.
The memorial is along Steve Biko Road, the same road where Amy Biehl, an American Fulbright post-graduate, was dragged from her car by a mob of youths in Gugulethu and stabbed to death in 1993. On August 25, 2010, on the 17th anniversary of Biehl’s death, a memorial bronze plaque was built in her honour at the site where she was killed.
Remembering the life of Amy, late president Nelson Mandela, in 1998, said; “She (Biehl) made our aspirations her own and lost her life in the turmoil of our transition as the new South Africa struggled to be born in the dying moments of apartheid. Through her, our peoples have also shared the pain of confronting a terrible past as we take the path of reconciliation and healing of our nation.”