The Bloemfontein Women’s Memorial should also reflect the history of black women and children, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported the African National Congress Women’s League as saying on Monday.
The sandstone obelisk pays tribute to women and children who died in British concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer South African War — fought between 1899 and 1902. The monument dates back to 1913.
According to the SABC, visitors have complained that black women and children who faced the same fate were being ignored.
However, memorial officials said it would be insulting to blacks simply to add on a plaque.
There is a need for a separate monument to commemorate either women and children or only women or all South Africans who died in the war, said Frik Jacobs, of the Anglo-Boer War Museum.
The museum is on the same property as the memorial and reflects the role of all South Africans during the war.
The monument, which was built with money collected by Afrikaners after the war, now belongs to a private trust. — Sapa