The Mandela and Tambo family members were present at the unveiling of the R22 million statues.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party has accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of being tone deaf after he unveiled two 10-meter bronze statues of Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo in eThekwini on Tuesday.
The statues are reportedly valued at R22 million. They are intended to contribute to the city’s cultural heritage and encourage tourism.
But the MK party says the unveiling of these statues comes at a time when the municipality is struggling to deliver basic services to residents.
“While eThekwini residents endure collapsing infrastructure, sewage flowing into rivers, dry taps, unemployment and rising crime, the sitting president arrives to unveil 10-metre monuments, as if bronze statues can be used to remedy the lack of basic service delivery.
“The DA-led so-called government of national unity (GNU) now seeks to wrap itself in the legacy of Mandela and Tambo, while presiding over the steady collapse of municipalities across the country.
“If Oliver Reginald Tambo could witness what the ANC has become under Mr Ramaphosa, an organisation consumed by factional battles, corporate influence, cadre deployment, and tolerance of corruption, he would be turning in his grave.
“Tambo stood for discipline, ethical leadership, humility, and sacrifice. Today the ANC stands for arrogance, elitism, and political survival,” said MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.
Efforts to rescue eThekwini municipality
He said the Presidential eThekwini Working Group, established in 2024 to address service delivery challenges in eThekwini, has failed to ensure the municipality functions optimally.
“If Mr Ramaphosa truly wishes to honour Mandela and Tambo, he must declare eThekwini’s infrastructure crisis a national emergency, remove politically deployed incompetent individuals from technical positions, implement consequence management for corruption and provide firm timelines for restoring reliable water and sanitation,” he said.
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Service delivery vs political romanticism
Ndhlela said the people of eThekwini are tired of the former liberation movement’s historic rhetoric about past victories. He said they want service delivery.
“They want functioning wastewater plants, reliable electricity, safe streets, and honest leadership. History will not judge this administration by the height of its statues, but by the depth of its failure,” he said.
Ramaphosa responds to critics
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa responded to the controversies over the statues in his speech on the occasion.
“I would like those who may have some doubts just to think for a while that what we have sought to do here goes way beyond what we may be debating, goes way beyond what we may think is the cost.
“The costs of what they contributed in our struggle is incalcuble, we cannot even begin to count what it cost for us to be where we are today.
“In stone and bronze, we continue to write our history, not the history of those who held power unjustly, but the history of those who refused to let injustice have the final word. We are writing the history of how our people struggled to be free,” he said.
Ramaphosa said that when South Africans see these statues, they should see the country’s history.
He said the statues also make a statement to the international community that South Africa still honours the values of Tambo and Mandela.
“As we face the challenges of today and tomorrow, we are all of us standing on the shoulders of these two brave men.”
Ramaphosa says a nation that forgets its past has no future.
“We chose to have a future by remembering our past,” he said.
ANC’s demise in KZN
The unveiling of these statues comes at a time when Ramaphosa’s party, the ANC, has lost power in eThekwini and is in a power-sharing arrangement.
The party also lost the provincial elections in 2024, receiving 17% of the vote, and lost the national elections for the first time, leading to the formation of the government of national unity (GNU).
They have lost power in most municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, and the party is seized with rebuilding branches in that province.
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