Will the controversial Durban elephants be freed, or will they be caged indefinitely? After a decision at the city's executive committee yesterday, at least one of the three elephants is to be saved to stand prominently at the new Warwick Junction interchange. But the fate of the other two remains uncertain.
Three months ago, work was abruptly stopped on the sculpture by South African artist Andries Botha of the three elephants, allegedly by an ANC bigwig, and a report was ordered to establish who had commissioned the R1,5-million artwork. ANC officials were unhappy with the choice of animal, which appears in the logo of the opposition IFP.
Now the municipality is expected to investigate the feasibility of introducing the four other animals in the famous Big Five at the same spot. Acknowledging the "embarrassing" debacle over the continent's most famous animal and its links to the IFP, the city's executive committee finally decided to resolve the controversy.
Deputy mayor Logie Naidoo was backed in his recommendation to "support the project and enable the work to continue, but only with one of each of the Big Five, not just the elephants".
Botha said yesterday that he had been asked by city manager Dr Michael Sutcliffe not to comment on the issue. He said he would see the city manager today. Botha said earlier that the city had paid about a quarter of the R1,5m and, until he had been paid in full, he jointly owned the elephants with the municipality.
There were protocols that needed to be followed when artworks were purchased, he said. Intellectual property rights were involved and the artwork could not be bought and then destroyed At a council meeting, it was revealed that the elephants were part of a larger landscaping initiative at the Warwick market and that other animals would be created. While the decision was supported, opposition parties were concerned about:
# How much extra cost may be incurred.
# Who was expected to pay for it.
# What would happen to the two other elephants.
# Was space and money available to put in the other four animals.
"Seventy-eight days have already passed; what charges will there be and who will pay?" asked the MF's Patrick Pillay.
The DA's Tex Collins said that regardless of who had initiated the project, city officials had gone "across their boundaries" to stop work that was being paid for by the national Department of Transport.
Sutcliffe will discuss the recommendation with the artist. Details of the costs and the inclusion of the other animals will be discussed and a second report will be presented to the city's top officials for a decision. "I took the decision to stop the elephants because neither I nor the mayor knew of the project," said Sutcliffe. He added that he was certain that the city officials who had undertake the decision for the landscaping had "had good intentions". "At that stage individuals and the media had politicised the issue," he said.
The IFP's Thembi Nzuza hit back at the elephant fracas, and said the IFP was "embarrassed"" "We were just dragged into this, yet we didn't even commission it. It's just a case of somebody who deep down in their heart who hates the IFP." Nzuza said she did not like the way the situation had been handled, and in fact, the IFP could do with an apology.
Source: IoL
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