The statue of Louis Botha which stands outside parliament in Cape Town was vandalised on Wednesday.
The monument, which depicts Botha – the first prime minister of the Union of SA - on a horse, was sprayed with red paint and part of Botha’s shoe was chipped off.A video taken at the scene was shared with TimesLIVE by MPs who witnessed the vandalism.The statue of Louis Botha which stands outside parliament was defaced on Wednesday. Police have arrested two men and a woman.
"At about 14:42 this afternoon, members of the SAPS spotted the trio who were in possession of a ladder, grinder and generator near the statue. Members of the SAPS moved in swiftly and managed to confiscate the items. During a scuffle between members of the SAPS and the trio, one of the male suspects managed to spray paint as well as vandalize the statue with a hammer," Mathe added.
The trio has been charged with malicious damage to property, resisting arrest and assaulting the police officers and are expected to appear in court soon. , the statue, which has the words “warrior‚ farmer‚ statesman" inscribed on it, was defaced with the words being scratched out with red paint. The Botha statue has been a source of controversy for some time. In 2014, EFF leader Julius Malema said: “Louis Botha is not our hero and cannot be a hero of a democratic South Africa. He is a colonial warmonger‚ who fought for the exclusion of black and indigenous people from running their own country and affairs."
On June 16 2020, a group of Capetonians protested outside parliament, calling for the removal of the statue. Scuffle broke out between