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| Munitoria building on fire in 1997, viewed through the monument for Victims of Terrorism. |
This is a follow-up to a previous posting titled: Old Munitoria building vanishes in a cloud of dust. The previous posting failed to mention that a noteworthy monument stood at the entrance of the old Munitoria building on the corner of Van der Walt and Vermeulen Streets (now renamed Lilian Ngoyi and Madiba Streets).
When an acquaintance of mine, now living in Europe, asked me what had happened to the monument and whether it had perhaps vanished with the rest of the 120,000 tons of rubble and dust during the demolition explosion on 7th July 2013, or not, I was unable to answer him. When I started making inquiries, mainly with people who work in the city centre – and later on Facebook, nobody knew what I was talking about. Our friend Google wasn’t very helpful either, so I decided to take a drive to the spot to see for myself if the memorial was still standing.
Lo and behold, the old memorial was still standing there next to tons of rubble! The entire block was cordoned off with 2-metre high zinc and barbed wire, making it rather difficult to get a decent photograph of the entire edifice. However, despite this barrier and other awkward obstacles such as a smoke-filled environment, the sun in the wrong place, crazy taxi drivers, rude pedestrians, and Metro cops who kept asking me for my driver’s licence and what my business was, I did manage to snap some pics, which I’ve appended to the end of this posting.
When an acquaintance of mine, now living in Europe, asked me what had happened to the monument and whether it had perhaps vanished with the rest of the 120,000 tons of rubble and dust during the demolition explosion on 7th July 2013, or not, I was unable to answer him. When I started making inquiries, mainly with people who work in the city centre – and later on Facebook, nobody knew what I was talking about. Our friend Google wasn’t very helpful either, so I decided to take a drive to the spot to see for myself if the memorial was still standing.
Lo and behold, the old memorial was still standing there next to tons of rubble! The entire block was cordoned off with 2-metre high zinc and barbed wire, making it rather difficult to get a decent photograph of the entire edifice. However, despite this barrier and other awkward obstacles such as a smoke-filled environment, the sun in the wrong place, crazy taxi drivers, rude pedestrians, and Metro cops who kept asking me for my driver’s licence and what my business was, I did manage to snap some pics, which I’ve appended to the end of this posting.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MEMORIAL
The memorial is commonly known as Pretoria’s Terrorism Memorial, a term which for obvious reasons is today considered politically incorrect in the eyes of the confused and misguided sympathizers of the ANC’s Marxist-Communist FREEdom fighters.
I will stop being sarcastic the day the ANC government stops obliterating and distorting African-European heritage and makes an official announcement - that ALL CITIZENS OF SOUTH AFRICA (irrespective of colour) who lost their lives during the Cold War era also sacrificed their lives for the freedom so many people enjoy today.
The memorial was constructed in 1988 to honour ‘‘residents of Pretoria who lost their lives as a result of acts of terrorism, or in preventing or combating terrorism,” - according to an announcement in a Council Newsletter at the time. Readers who want a general outline of what South Africa was like in the year 1988 can click here to read a month-by-month account on Wikipedia… (not a pretty picture!)
The symbolism of all of the individual elements of the memorial was explained in both Afrikaans and English on an attached plaque. Mounted on a rock symbolizing ‘the infallibility of God’s Word’ is a tall arch made of stainless steel, which ‘denotes the triumph of a people living by God’s principles’. The arch is broken at the apex as a reference to ‘the untimely death of the victims of terrorism.’ The structure was originally surrounded by a water feature symbolizing ‘calmness and reflection’ and equipped with an inscription from the Bible, “Vengeance is mine: I will repay” (Romans 12:19), as well as the dedication “To our victims of terrorism.”
It was a few months after South Africa’s democrazy elections of April 1994, sometime in September 1994, that a concerned resident of Pretoria, by the name of Mr D.J. Eksteen, decided to awake the sleeping dogs of the ANC-controlled council, by raising objection to the Biblical words of Romans 12:19 inscribed on the memorial. In his letter of complaint Eksteen also mentioned that the memorial was out of touch in the time we live in and does not have the right to exist. (Afr.: “is uit pas met die tyd waarin ons leef en het nie meer bestaansreg nie.''
Eventually, after a heated debate in which Conservative Party councillors voiced their strong objections, it was finally resolved to re-dedicate the memorial to ‘ALL’ instead of ‘OUR’ victims of terrorism. The Biblical quote was also removed – to keep the godless masses happy. The entire re-dedication process went ahead without the council even bothering to publish their intentions in an official newsletter. Mr Paul Fouché, former leader of the Conservative Party, pointed out the fact that the residents of Pretoria where never given the opportunity to voice their opinions on the matter.
I will stop being sarcastic the day the ANC government stops obliterating and distorting African-European heritage and makes an official announcement - that ALL CITIZENS OF SOUTH AFRICA (irrespective of colour) who lost their lives during the Cold War era also sacrificed their lives for the freedom so many people enjoy today.
The memorial was constructed in 1988 to honour ‘‘residents of Pretoria who lost their lives as a result of acts of terrorism, or in preventing or combating terrorism,” - according to an announcement in a Council Newsletter at the time. Readers who want a general outline of what South Africa was like in the year 1988 can click here to read a month-by-month account on Wikipedia… (not a pretty picture!)
The symbolism of all of the individual elements of the memorial was explained in both Afrikaans and English on an attached plaque. Mounted on a rock symbolizing ‘the infallibility of God’s Word’ is a tall arch made of stainless steel, which ‘denotes the triumph of a people living by God’s principles’. The arch is broken at the apex as a reference to ‘the untimely death of the victims of terrorism.’ The structure was originally surrounded by a water feature symbolizing ‘calmness and reflection’ and equipped with an inscription from the Bible, “Vengeance is mine: I will repay” (Romans 12:19), as well as the dedication “To our victims of terrorism.”
It was a few months after South Africa’s democrazy elections of April 1994, sometime in September 1994, that a concerned resident of Pretoria, by the name of Mr D.J. Eksteen, decided to awake the sleeping dogs of the ANC-controlled council, by raising objection to the Biblical words of Romans 12:19 inscribed on the memorial. In his letter of complaint Eksteen also mentioned that the memorial was out of touch in the time we live in and does not have the right to exist. (Afr.: “is uit pas met die tyd waarin ons leef en het nie meer bestaansreg nie.''
Eventually, after a heated debate in which Conservative Party councillors voiced their strong objections, it was finally resolved to re-dedicate the memorial to ‘ALL’ instead of ‘OUR’ victims of terrorism. The Biblical quote was also removed – to keep the godless masses happy. The entire re-dedication process went ahead without the council even bothering to publish their intentions in an official newsletter. Mr Paul Fouché, former leader of the Conservative Party, pointed out the fact that the residents of Pretoria where never given the opportunity to voice their opinions on the matter.
Sources:
- Landscape of Memory (Volume 15): Commemorative Monuments, Memorials and Public Statuary in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Sabine Marschall – © Brill 2009. (PDF Download 3.3 MB)
- University of Pretoria (2011 thesis): Context and Site – City of Pretoria - Chapter 5 - (PDF Download 5.4 MB)
- Beeld argief 1994/09/29: Bybelteksvers op gedenknaald word verwyder - (Sarel van der Walt)
- Beeld argief 1995/01/11: Teksvers verwyder ná brief aan raad
The following photographs were taken on 26 July 2013
Click on pics for a larger view: (1024x768 pixels)
Click on pics for a larger view: (1024x768 pixels)
5 comments :
The ANC's relentless ethnic-cleansing juggernaut is doing its frantic best to erace every presence of Afrikanerdom from the landscape and cityscapes of South Africa. The survival of this graceful, very lovely memorial is miraculous. Thanks for placing this on the historical record.
@A Stuijt – It’s my pleasure... Thanks for visiting!
@A Stuit - The irony of all the ANC's efforts is that Afrikaners have dug in so to speak and their culture is stronger today more than ever.
Something with a deep foundation might be razed to the ground on the surface, but all that does is force the creation of a stronger structure on the existing foundation to be stronger than before purely out of necessity. I have been following blogs like Tia's for a while now and it is easy to see a blossoming of many blogs that are punting the Afrikaners (and all whites) plight in our country.
What is even better, is that if the ANC tries to shut these blogs down (like Mike Smith), they just resurface elsewhere with a stronger following.
I believe the tide is turning, they are damned if they do and damned if they dont try to cut off Medusas head. If I was as eloquent as the bunch writing blogs, I would start one myself. In the meantime, I tell all my friends about them to get as many people to open their eyes to the truth and expose the lies of the MSM.
@socrates – thanks for popping in! Just a minor point of correction… Mike Smith’s blog was not shut down by any government or other agency. Mike shut down his blog intentionally so that he could focus on completing his book. Take care and continue spreading the word.
See what I mean by eloquence lol ...
What I meant was that they (whoever they are) tried before to shut him down but Mike keeps popping back up...
I know about the book he is busy with and I for one cant wait for its release!
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