More than 400 people have aired their opposition toward the removal of numerous public artworks in Strandfontein.
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The City of Cape Town launched a public participation process earlier this month in the wake of complaints of antisocial behaviour around statues in the area.
Theresa Uys, the City’s mayco member for corporate services, says the complaints were received from residents living adjacent to the statues. ‘The complaints were related to noise and people making use of drugs and alcohol at the location of these statues, especially over weekends. The survey focused on the Turtle, Tooth, Bench, Tongue and JR’s hat statues.’
As a result, the public participation unit conducted a survey to determine whether the residents would like the statues to be removed or not. News24 reports that the petition has been drafted since then, and their concerns have been addressed in a meeting between the city and the Strandfontein Community Policing Forum (CPF).
Sandy Schuter, CPF chair, says the residents have fond memories of the monuments. ‘At that time, there were no parks and this was the outdoor entertainment many had. There is no need to remove the monuments. We patrol the streets of Strandfontein very regularly and never has there been any safety issues at the various monuments, however we don’t want to water down the concerns of the person that initially reported activity at the one monument.’
She adds that these monuments are ‘part of Strandfontein, so the city will have to fight an entire community to have it thrown down. We have nothing already and I know that nothing else will be placed there. If, the same community has been begging for recreational space for our kids, there is always a budget attached and reasons why it cannot be done.’ Schuter fears that these statues will be removed and not replaced by anything else.
The statues were originally commissioned by a private developer, but their exact origins are unknown.
The public participation process will conclude this week, pending a final decision.
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Picture: Discott / Wikipedia