Johannesburg: A statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Johannesburg was defaced by a group of people who threw buckets of white paint on it amid racist taunts. The incident occurred on Sunday when the group came in a car and threw buckets of white paint on the statue and surrounding plaques detailing Gandhi's history in South Africa, security guard Ntandzo Khwepe said.
They were bearing placards reading “Racist Gandhi must fall“. The statue in the centre of the city is believed to be the only one in the world showing Gandhi as a young lawyer in his court robes.
It is on a public transport hub square which was renamed Gandhi Square because the office where he practised law during his stay in the city is on the periphery of the square. “They said we should not stop them because Gandhi was a racist man,“ Khwepe said, adding that the group was wearing African National Congress regalia. Khwepe said one man was nabbed, but he remained nonchalant about it, claiming that his political bosses would soon get him free. Police spokesman Kay Makhubela said he would be charged with malicious damage to property.
