By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A kaleidoscopic mural of Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been defaced with the k-word in Cape Town.
This comes less than two weeks before the South African Anglican cleric and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist, turns 90 on October 7.
Cape Town videographers Wesley Fester and Saamwiet Moos made the shocking discovery on Saturday afternoon, September 25.
“We had to do a double take. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. And then I stopped Wesley and said, check what someone did here. We were baffled. It took us a bit of time to process it. And then we filmed it,” Moos said, adding that they were stunned by the revelation.
Picture: Screenshot from video / Wesley Fester.
The Desmond Tutu IP Trust has condemned the “loathsome” desecration of a Tutu mural in Cape Town, after it was discovered that someone had written “Ek is ‘n k—–” on it.
The trust’s acting chairperson Mamphela Ramphele said the incident spoke volumes as it illustrated the work still needed to restore humanity and that it casts a slur on South Africa’s democracy.
“The Arch is about to celebrate his 90th birthday. He is the grandfather of the nation, and a global symbol of peace and righteousness. Racism is a curse South Africa must escape.
“We have enough problems on our plate, including radical inequality in wealth and living standards still largely tracking the social, economic and environmental hierarchies of the past,” she said.
The trust explained that, in the 1980s, at the height of the anti-apartheid struggle, Desmond Tutu was regularly threatened by “hate-mongers”.
“In one unsavoury incident, in 1989, a baboon foetus was hung outside their home in an attempt, police later said, to bewitch him.
“Despite the Archbishop’s consistent advocacy for non-racialism, justice, compassion and love, because of the prominence of his position in the church and the struggle, he was widely reviled in white society. If looks could kill he would have been dead many times over, he has often said.”
The trust continued: “For this hatred to be repeated, decades later, by someone scrawling, ‘Ek is ‘n k…’, on a mural of the Archbishop in central Cape Town, casts a slur on our democracy. It speaks to the work still ahead to complete the journey, his journey, to restore our humanity.”