The SA National Parks (SANParks) Board has put on hold plans to remove the statue of former Transvaal president Paul Kruger from the Kruger National Park, SABC TV news reported on Tuesday.
It said the statue would, at least for now, remain in the park because the SANParks had not obtained permission from the SA Heritage Resources Agency to remove the statue.
Kruger played a part in setting aside land for the national park in 1898, and his statue was erected at the Kruger Gate in 1975. But SANParks wants it removed.
The decision to relocate the statue was taken in line with the government’s policy on the removal of apartheid-era monuments, SANParks chief executive Mavuso Msimang said on Monday.
He said the statue of Kruger and two others of Piet Grobler and Lieutenant-Colonel James Stevenson-Hamilton would also be relocated.
The statues themselves did not really add any value to conservation, Msimang said.
Grobler played a central role in the early management of the park, while Stevenson-Hamilton was the first curator. Their busts have been placed in Skukuza rest camp as a part of a structure that includes a bronze of Kruger.
The statues will now be kept in a safe place at Skukuza. – Sapa