The Newcastle statue… Who does it represent?

The Newcastle Mounted Rifles statue stands as a remembrance of those who laid down their lives for Newcastle.

Across the country, the call for the removal of statues, representing or promoting historical figures who supported the pro-oppression lifestyle, has arisen.

From busts of Cecil John Rhodes to statues of FW De Klerk, political parties and citizens of South Africa alike have joined in on the statue debate.

Locally, the most notable statue of Newcastle is the rifleman outside of the Town Hall and the three art pieces outside the Newcastle Mall.

The rifleman caused a stir on social media recently, when a resident questioned its place and purpose.

While some residents defended the statue, others joked about its desecration, but their is no denying its place in the history of this town.

Town Hall itself was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s sixtieth Diamond Jubilee, at the height of colonialism in South Africa in 1897 and later completed in 1899.

While Town Hall was famously used in the second Anglo-Boer war to store the pillaged furniture, the statue outside was erected in memorial of the Natal Carbineer Soldiers.

According to local historian and Fort Amiel curator, Louis Eksteen, this regiment participated in the First World War and represented a strong faction of the South African military, which invaded German West Africa at the time.

The statue pays attention to those fighters from the regiment, no matter race or creed, who took up arms from 1914 to 1918.

At the base of the statue is a plaque recognising the Newcastle Rifleman for their service in the Anglo-Zulu War.

“Our country has a history we can’t run away from, history is not always a fairy-tale. It is filled with good and bad times. It is filled with democracy and dictatorship. History is a means of us learning to move forward as a country,” said Mayor Afzul Rehman.

He believed the ruling party has always led the discussions and debates around the transformation of South African, which included the issues of historical statues.

He said, should the matter arise, he would take the matters forward to the ANC and its structures, but reminded the community that Newcastle municipality has for years, resisted the temptation of name changing.

“We believe the past should be respected if it can be resolved and maintained through peaceful dialogue,” he concluded.

“Every Cultural race group owes their allegiance to different heroes and we should respect that.”