Cape Town – Amid the heated debate around public art in Cape Town – and the fall of the Cecil John Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town – a mysterious bronze statue resembling President Jacob Zuma was erected on Lion’s Head over the weekend and quickly destroyed.
The statue, titled The Swordsman of the Nation , was placed on top of the popular tourist destination with an inscription scribbled on its base.
It read: “If a criminal like this can get a statue, so can I – JZ.” It is unclear whether the ‘criminal’ referred to is Cecil John Rhodes or President Jacob Zuma – or both.
The statue, which depicts a short, fat, naked character, was erected with a large sex toy in its hand, evoking the controversy around artist Brett Murray’s painting, The Spear”.
By the end of the weekend the statue had been cut in half.
Twitter was abuzz with discussions around the statue, with nobody able to say who made it, or who destroyed it. Some people supported the response to the #RhodesMustFall campaign, while others called it “distasteful” and “stupid”.
From pictures taken at Lion’s Head, it seems many were simply unbothered by the statue.
Hikers are pictured sitting next to it, and one group even set up a water station in front of it.
City Press
Lions Head, Cape Town @ProudlySA @Abramjee @GoToSouthAfrica @Derek_Hanekom #BeautifulSA pic.twitter.com/OXcEcWK3yw
— AfricanRainmaker (@vuyisaq) April 6, 2015
