http://rekordeast.co.za/47751/grim-p...gers-statue-2/



Right wing cultural groups vow to protect the Paul Kruger statue and heritage sites.

Afrikaans singer and activist Steve Hofmeyr made an appearance on Church Square, showing objection against the vandalism of the Paul Kruger statue and other heritage symbols countrywide.

He told the protesters that Paul Kruger was not only brave leader, but also a conciliatory one.

“He fostered good relations between his people and the Matabele and the Royal Bafokeng.”

Hofmeyr said the actions of the EFF to deface the statue were ill-informed and misguided.

“We have no censensual SA history. It does not exist. But if you think you can remedy that by deflowering the heritage of others, you have some more thinking to do,” he said.

“If you believe you can fix disunity by defacing the history of others, what you believe is misguided.”

Another high-profile protester was Afrikaans singer Sunette Bridges who chained herself to the statue.

“This is hilarious. Yesterday morning, kids were still playing around the statue while it was cleaned. Then it was not a crime scene but all of a sudden today it is,” she said

She said the message to the mayor of Pretoria was that the destruction or removal of the Kruger statue was not an option.

“We are [also] here because at the beginning of the year a process was initiated when Jacob Zuma got onto a podium and said all ill of this country is to be blamed on the fact that Jan van Riebeeck set foot on this continent. Ever since that day there has been an incredible onslaught on the history and culture of the Afrikaner and all people from European descent.”

Bridges said EFF leader Julius Malema was also to blame. He encouraged his followers to start destroying heritage sites.

“That is an illegal act and he should have been arrested when the very first statue was touched. Why he is not in prison I do not know,” she said.

“If any of us had to get onto the podium and called for the destruction or defacing of the Nelson Mandela statue, and there was as much as a paint spot on the statue the following day, I would be in jail.”

Hofmeyr said he realised that Afrikaner and English activists were now on high alert to retaliate the moment a monument was touched.

“For civilised South Africans, this is not yet the time for retaliation. That is too easy. We give the government and heritage councils the benefit of the doubt to fix this.”

By Wednesday afternoon the crowd had dispersed