The DA has condemned plans by the North West provincial government to erect a statue of president Jacob Zuma worth R6 million.

According to the party, the province put out a tender last year to conceptualise and build an “enormous” statue of the controversial statesman.

“[It] is a disgraceful waste of public money that will leave us with nothing more than a monument to corruption and unemployment,” said DA North West leader, Joe McGluwa.

“There is nothing to celebrate about Jacob Zuma’s presidency, a regime that has left nine million people unemployed, has let corruption flourish, has allowed the state to be captured by cronies and pals, and has broken parliament while violating the constitution,” McGluwa added.

The DA said the statue shows that premier Supra Mahumapelo and his government put Jacob Zuma and the ANC ahead of the people of the province.

Mahumapelo is a known ardent Zuma backer.

“In the province with the highest unemployment rate in South Africa, at a shocking 44,6%, it is simply unconscionable that Supra could spend public money on a multi-million rand statue, rather than spend money on creating jobs and opportunities,” McGluwa said.

“To the people of Gopane, Zeerust, a statue of Jacob Zuma will go nowhere to solve their critical need for services, as water supply fails daily, waste water treatment plants lie unusable and broken, and the inhumane bucket system still plagues our people. Supra Mahumapelo’s priorities are clearly disturbingly skewed to praise Jacob Zuma, rather than to deliver to the people.”

The DA wants the money for the statue to be redirect to service delivery and said it will announce further action on the matter.

[Image – CC 2.0 by Government ZA]