{"id":102454,"date":"2025-09-26T14:03:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T14:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/?p=102454"},"modified":"2025-09-26T14:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T14:15:16","slug":"afriforum-condemns-attack-on-paul-kruger-statue-on-church-square-vows-to-take-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/afriforum-condemns-attack-on-paul-kruger-statue-on-church-square-vows-to-take-action\/","title":{"rendered":"AfriForum condemns attack on Paul Kruger statue on Church Square; vows to take action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ernst-van-Zyl_26-Sept-2025_ENG.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soundbite: Ernst van Zyl (English)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ernst-van-Zyl_26-Sep-2025_AFR.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Soundbite: Ernst van Zyl (Afrikaans)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>AfriForum today visited the Paul Kruger statue in the Pretoria city centre to assess the damage caused last night when this statue group was attacked and seriously damaged. A gun barrel and a boot from two of the Boer warrior statues which flank the Kruger statue were broken off. The security fence around the statues was also damaged.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"478\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 848 \/ 478;\" width=\"848\" controls src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Video-2025-09-26-at-12.53.32.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This attack on the Kruger statue follows exactly one week after the EFF called for the destruction of Afrikaner monuments in Parliament. During this debate, specific reference was made to the removal of the Kruger statue on Church Square. The party also tabled a motion in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature this week, demanding the renaming of the Kruger National Park. These targeted attacks on Afrikaner heritage come in the week that Heritage Day was celebrated nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, in his reaction on social media, EFF Spokesperson Sinawo Thambo celebrated the attack, describing it as \u201cgreat news\u201d. This sentiment is in line with the EFF\u2019s motion to parliament that called for the \u201ctearing down\u201d of Afrikaner monuments. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">AfriForum calls on the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality to prioritise the upgrade of security at the Kruger statue as well as the restoration of the statues and the security fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Ernst van Zyl, Head of Public Relations at AfriForum, this incident is just the latest example of the attack on Afrikaner heritage that is currently intensifying. \u201cIt is no coincidence that this attack comes in the week after the EFF called for the destruction of this specific monument and others associated with the white minority,\u201d Van Zyl continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfriForum will fight to defend Afrikaner heritage but at the same time also continue to erect new monuments, institutions and statues, because as Afrikaners we embrace our culture of being builders, not breakers,\u201d Van Zyl concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"102467\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.21-1-576x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-102467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.21-1-576x1024.jpeg 576w, https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.21-1-169x300.jpeg 169w, https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.21-1.jpeg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"102468\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.22-576x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-102468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.22-576x1024.jpeg 576w, https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.22-169x300.jpeg 169w, https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-09-26-at-12.43.22.jpeg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AfriForum today visited the Paul Kruger statue in the Pretoria city centre to assess the damage caused last night when&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":102457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11178,11162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heritage-and-culture-media-statements","category-media-statements"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":11178,"label":"Heritage and culture Media statements"},{"value":11162,"label":"Media statements"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Aangeval_Kruger-beeld-1024x545.jpg",1024,545,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"AfriForum","author_link":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/author\/ilze-nieuwoudtafriforum-co-za\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":11178,"name":"Heritage and culture Media statements","slug":"heritage-and-culture-media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11178,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":11162,"count":38,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11178,"category_count":38,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Heritage and culture Media statements","category_nicename":"heritage-and-culture-media-statements","category_parent":11162},{"term_id":11162,"name":"Media statements","slug":"media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":11162,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2728,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":11162,"category_count":2728,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Media statements","category_nicename":"media-statements","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102472,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102454\/revisions\/102472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artikels.afriforum.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}