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Airbrushing Afrikanerdom from history

'Pretoria Memorial to Our Victims of Terrorism' miraculously survives Munitoria implosion

"The monument's original inscription "Vengeance Is Mine: I will Repay' (Romans 12:19) and the dedication 'To our victims of terrorism' were airbrushed out by the ANC's history rewrite... The streets where it is located on the corner of Vermeulen and Van der Walt streets, have been renamed Lilian Ngoyi and Madiba Streets...

PretoriaMemorialToOURvictimsOfTerrorismPICTHREE original picture on http://tia-mysoa.blogspot.nl/2013/07/pretorias-monument-for-victims-of.html

July 27 2013 - The author of the blog 'This Is South Africa, My Simple Online Abode' -- Tia MySoa -     has discovered that Pretoria's Memorial To Our Victims of Terrorism (he photographed with great difficulty on 26 July 2013) has survived the 120,000 rubble which pounded it on July 7 2013 during the implosion of the old burnt-out Munitoria building in Pretoria.

He writes: "This  noteworthy monument stood at the entrance of the old Munitoria building on the corner of Van der Walt and Vermeulen Streets (now renamed Lilian Ngoyi and Madiba Streets).

It's original purpose and inscription:

  • It  was built in 1988 - to honour the ‘‘residents of Pretoria who lost their lives as a result of acts of terrorism, or in preventing or combating terrorism,” - according to an announcement in a Council Newsletter at the time. Readers who want a general outline of what South Africa was like in the year 1988 can click   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_in_South_Africa  to read a month-by-month account on Wikipedia.

Also read: Nobel Peace Laureate Nelson Mandela's bombs:

PretoriaTerrorismVictimMemorialPIC4withMUNITORIAbuildingOnFire1997 The memorial is a tall arch made of stainless steel, which ‘denotes the triumph of a people living by God’s principles’. The arch was broken at the apex as a reference to ‘the untimely death of the victims of terrorism.’ The structure was originally surrounded by a water feature symbolizing ‘calmness and reflection’ and equipped with an inscription from the Bible, “Vengeance is mine: I will repay” (Romans 12:19), as well as the dedication “To our victims of terrorism.”

Airbrushed out of South African history in September 1994:

--- He writes: "It was a few months after South Africa’s democrazy elections of April 1994, sometime in September 1994, that 'a concerned resident of Pretoria', by the name of Mr D.J. Eksteen, decided to awake the sleeping dogs of the ANC-controlled council, by raising objection to the Biblical words of Romans 12:19 inscribed on the memorial - "Vengeance is mine: I will repay". In his letter of complaint Eksteen also mentioned that the memorial was 'out of touch in the times we live in and does not have the right to exist". (Afrikaans: “is uit pas met die tyd waarin ons leef en het nie meer bestaansreg nie.''

Eventually, after a heated debate in which Conservative Party councillors voiced their strong objections, it was finally resolved to re-dedicate the memorial to ‘ALL’ instead of ‘OUR’ victims of terrorism.

  • The Biblical quote was also removed – to keep the godless masses happy. The entire re-dedication process went ahead without the council even bothering to publish their intentions in an official newsletter.
  • Mr Paul Fouché, former leader of the Conservative Party, pointed out the fact that the residents of Pretoria where never given the opportunity to voice their opinions on the matter.

The good news is that Pretoria"s Memorial to Our Victims of Terrorism survived the implosion of the Old Munitoria building this month. It still stands next to tons of rubble, on the same street corner (now renamed to Lilian Ngoyi and Madiba Streets).

"The entire block was cordoned off with 2-metre high zinc and barbed wire, making it rather difficult to get a decent photograph of the entire edifice," he writes. " However, despite this barrier and other awkward obstacles such as a smoke-filled environment, the sun in the wrong place, crazy taxi drivers, rude pedestrians, and Metro cops who kept asking me for my driver’s licence and what my business was, I did manage to snap some pics, which I’ve appended to the end of this posting."

PretoriaTerrorismVictimMemorialPIC2SURVIVEDMUNITORIAIMPLOSION