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AfriForum has been informed by the SAPS's Centre for Service Excellence that the destruction of a Memorial at the Police Academy in Hammanskraal on 7 July 2015 will be investigated internally.  This investigation is welcomed.

According to Alana Bailey, Deputy CEO of AfriForum concerned with heritage issues, the memorial was erected in memory of 13 SAPS students who died in a bus accident in the Robinson Pass between Oudtshoorn and Mossel Bay on 29 January 1988.  They were part of a gymnastics team on their way to participate in the Dias Festival in Mossel Bay.

Bailey says Brigadier Mangane, commander of the Academy, allegedly gave the order for the destruction of the memorial.  AfriForum believes that the action sends an extremely negative message of disrespect towards heritage conservation in general, but more specifically towards all members of the SAPS, as a senior commander apparently does not regard the lives of fellow service members to be worthy of commemoration.

In the past AfriForum has had to do with a similar situation when the Mayor of Lekwa Municipality, Ms Queen Radebe, ordered for a memorial to be destroyed.  In 2008 she was ordered by the High Court in Pretoria to have it restored and to pay for all costs.

According to Bailey, AfriForum approached the SAPS immediately after the abovementioned incident with an urgent request for more information, including on whose instruction the destruction had happened; whether any legal processes had been followed to obtain authorization for the deed; why the destruction had been deemed necessary; whether any steps would be taken to restore it; as well as an explanation of the SAPS's official position regarding the future of memorials for members who had died on duty.

The case has also been referred to the Heritage Foundation and several other heritage conservation institutions.

“Actions of this nature where South African heritage is destroyed and the sacrifices of fellow South Africans are being disregarded, cannot be allowed,” Bailey said.

“The speed with which the investigating team will respond to our questions will prove whether the SAPS indeed are serious about conservation and the legacy of their predecessors.”

·         See the letter from the SAPS attached.

Issued by AfriForum