Struggle heroes and heroines statues and monuments in Tshwane, South Africa

Abstract

This chapter examines the rationale behind the newly constructed anti-colonial and anti-apartheid statues at the Groenkloof nature reserve. In doing this, the chapter aims to show that while the statues are largely a replication of existing colonial imagery, they have become one of the embodiments of the ANC; s response to the cultural imbalance on the South African and Tshwane landscape. To unpack this, the chapter is divided into four sections. First, a historical background to Pretoria and colonial imagery; secondly, the decline of the colonial imagery in Pretoria; thirdly the emergence of the post-1994 imagery and lastly, the rationale behind the newly constructed statues.