Timeline on the defacing of statues

1997

September, The statue of Steve Biko is defaced twice within a space of three weeks after it was unveiled by President Nelson Mandela. 

2006

February, The statue of Chief Makhado in Makhado (Luis Trichardt) in Limpopo is defaced.

June, The statue of Chief Tshwane is defaced and painted with colors of the old South African flag used by the Apartheid government.

2015

26 March, The statue of King George V located at the University of KwaZulu Natal’s Howard Campus is splattered is white paint, covered in black cloth and has written papers stuck on it.

30 March, The statue of King George V is defaced for the second time.

2 April, The Uitenhage War Memorial which is a statue of a soldier mounted on a plinth is defaced as it is set on fire.

3 April, The statue of Jan Hendrik Hofmeyer in Cape Town has its plinth draped with a white cloth written in black. Amongst some the writing was “a black woman raised me”.

6 April, The statue of Paul Kruger in Church Square in Pretoria is defaced with green paint.

7 April, The horse memorial in Port Elizabeth is defaced. The statue of a kneeling soldier for the horse to drink is pulled to the ground.

9 April, The bottom part of the statue of Loius Botha, the first South African Prime Minister is defaced with red paint.

9 April, The statue of Queen Victoria in Port Elizabeth is defaced with green paint being thrown over the statue and its plinth.

11 April, Paul Kruger’s statue is defaced again. One person is arrested.

11 April, The statue of Marthinus Pretorius, the first president of the South African Republic is defaced as red paint is thrown on it.

12 April, The bust of Fernando Pessoa, a poet who lived in South Africa between 1895 and 1905 is defaced as it painted with red paint.

13 April, A man is arrested over the defacing of the Queen Victoria statue.

13 April, The statue of Andrew Murray in Wellington in the Western Cape is defaced.  He was the son of a Dutch Reformed Church missionary.

20 April, The bust of Stephanus Schoeman, the former president of the Zuid Afrikaanse Republic in Polokwane is defaced as it is covered in white paint.  Subsequently, the Moolman Group removes the busts of Koos Grobler, Hans van Rensburg, Johan Jorrisen including that of Stephunus Schoeman from the Library gardens in Polokwane.

20 April, A statue of the Anglo Boer War (South African War) in front of the East London City was defaced as white paint was poured over it. The statue was erected in 1901 as a tribute to those who died during the war.