June 10, 2002
By Lucille Davie
THE miner's leg in the bronze "Miners' Monument" statue at the top of Rissik Street has been restored. A team of workmen were spotted welding the miner's boot back onto his leg on Wednesday, after vandals sawed through the leg to sell it for scrap over a year ago.
An attempt was made to remove the leg of another miner - a hacksaw blade was embedded below the right knee, but has now been removed and the gap welded together. The bronze plaque at the base has also vanished.
All six spotlights that light up the statue were stolen 6 to 7 years ago, as well as the fountain heads that for years have sprayed gently across the three brawny backs.
The new boot was made by artist Sarel van Rensburg, who made a mould of the boot from a neighbouring miner of the monument, several months ago. The boot has been welded on to the base of the statue to prevent it being removed again. The boot weighs around 40kg, and at the going rate of about R15 a kilogram, vandals would have cashed in R600 for it.
Although the miners' statue has been restored, it will be some time before the fountain and the lights are restored. Michele van Blerk, General Manager of Parks, says she will not restore the lights and fountain until she has sufficient security in place. "The lights and water will be restored in the next financial year, but probably not this year."
"We need to create a sense of presence to make sure these items are not vandalised again," she says.
She has created this "sense of presence" in Joubert Park, which recently had its fountain restored. Every few days she visits the Park with four metro policemen in tow. Taxi drivers around the Park take bucketfuls of water out of the fountain to use for washing their cars, and she often has to re-fill the fountain.
The Miners Monument was given to the city by the Chamber of Mines in 1964, and erected at the top of Rissik Street, against the backdrop of the City of Johannesburg offices. The sculptor was David MacGregor, who called the statue 'The Miners' Monument'. MacGregor also produced a statue of Carl von Brandis, first Commissioner of Mines, which stands outside the High Court in Johannesburg.
Monument vandals have also been busy elsewhere in the city. They have stolen a steenbok statue from Wits University, as well as the plaque on the striking black granite cube commemorating Enoch Sontonga, author of the national anthem, in the Braamfontein Cemetery.
A large bronze two-figure sculpture by David Brown outside the Johannesburg Art Gallery has also been vandalised - one of the figures disappeared in 1996.
The figure turned up in Cape Town two years later when artist Willie Bester recognised it in a scrap yard. Bester bought it, then returned it to Brown. It has now been restored alongside its matching partner. But the gallery officials have taken no chances - the statue now resides in the courtyard of the art gallery, along with other statues that were brought inside.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Mystery of the missing leg
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
