CCTV cameras miss Durban elephant vandals
2012-06-01 12:29
Johannesburg - CCTV cameras that should have caught the vandals who defaced Durban's controversial elephant sculpture on film were either not working or obscured by trees, the Mercury newspaper reported on Friday.
One of three unfinished elephant sculptures, for which the eThekwini metro has already paid R1m, was splashed with red paint a week ago.
The newspaper had asked for access to footage of the statues, but was told by Charles Khumal from the eThekwini municipality's safety and security cluster that there had been a power failure.
However, another unnamed city official said one of the two cameras had its field of view obscured by a tree, while another was not working at the time. The sculptures, by Andries Botha, are made out of wire frames, and filled with stones.
Pictures of the painted sculpture appeared on Facebook last Sunday.
In an earlier incident, in March this year, one of the elephants was completely dismantled, the metal frame was stolen, and the other two sculptures were damaged.
The sculptures, situated at Durban's Warwick Interchange, are meant to symbolise the forgotten conversation between man and nature.
A local ANC leader had work on the installation halted in February 2010, because they apparently reminded some people of the Inkatha Freedom Party's logo.
- SAPA
