A naked man holding a panga is seen vandalising the Nelson Mandela Statue at Union Building. The man is protesting against loadshedding.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo said police were called to the scene after the man was allegedly seen vandalising the statue of former president Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings.
Masondo could not immediately confirm if the statue was damaged.
Officers took the man to a nearby hospital to be examined, he said.
The incident was captured on video and has gone viral on social media. Sello Machete, one of the people who recorded the incident, told TimesLIVE the man was protesting over several issues.
“He was complaining about load-shedding and blaming President Cyril Ramaphosa for the country’s current poor state of service delivery. He also complained about the economy. He was really furious,” Machete said. “He was trying to destroy the [Nelson Mandela] statue for over an hour before police could intervene,” said eyewitness Frans Machate.
“The security guards at the Union Buildings just observed from a distance, and when people asked why are they not handling the situation, they said that they were scared of being attacked by the man.”
Nearly an hour later, two officers arrived to negotiate with the man. The officers asked him to dress up and hand over his machete.
“He was insisting he is not dangerous and told police he would only comply if President Cyril Ramaphosa came to meet with him, personally,” said Machate.
Police have disarmed a man found vandalising former president Nelson Mandela’s statue @ #Unionbuildings in Pretoria.
He was found naked with a panga and a huge rock.
Police have managed to convince him to put his clothes back on. The guards alerted police stationed at the Union Building entrance, but it is understood law enforcement was slow to react.
The man was adamant that the statue of the late struggle icon be destroyed because, according to him, it represented British imperialism.
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