South Africa: Deep concerns over proposed Gandhi statue

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – The South African City of Cape Town plans to forge ahead with plans to erect a statue of Mahatma Gandhi despite the fact that the majority of respondents to a poll don’t want it.

This was confirmed by the Committee Member for Community Services, Zahid Badroodien, who said all views and submissions had been considered.

There are concerns that the issue could be a political hot potato because Gandhi who lived in South Africa between 1893 and 1914 has been accused of making racist comments.

The issue was fuelled by a recent book (The South African Gandhi: Stretcher-Bearer of Empire) in which he is accused of keeping the Indian struggle "separate from that of Africans and coloureds even though the latter were also denied political rights on the basis of colour and could also lay claim to being British subjects".

The authors, Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed, claim that Gandhi was indifferent to the plight of blacks and believed that state power should remain in white hands.

He also allegedly referred to blacks as kaffirs, a derogatory term which is now outlawed in South Africa.

Gandhi who employed non-violent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British Rule, inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

The honorific Mahatma, meaning high-souled, was conferred on him in South Africa in 1914 and is now used throughout the world. He was assassinated in 1948.

Badroodien said it would be recommended to council that it accept the statue from India and this would be discussed at a council meeting in October.

PANA reports that there were violent protests against a statue of pioneer Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town in 2015. The campaign for the statue's removal received global attention and led to a wider movement to "decolonise" education across South Africa. The statue was removed from the campus.

-0- PANA CU/VAO 27Sept2019