Billed as a cultural tourist attraction, East London’s Heroes Park is strewn with rubbish and showing signs of neglect.
The complex, which overlooks the Indian Ocean, comprises a Wall of Remembrance commemorating hundreds of Eastern Cape heroes and struggle icons including Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Donald Woods and Athol Fugard as well as the German Settler Monument and Multicultural Man statue.
Beneath the overhang of the viewing deck, there were signs that the covered area had been used as a makeshift sleeping spot. These included layers of cardboard, signs of a fire and litter.
Stagnant water pooled at the base of the Multicultural Man, which was donated to the African continent by Italy and is one of five such statues worldwide.
It is now surrounded with sturdy palisade fencing after being vandalised in 2010.
The landscaped sections of the complex are overgrown with weeds and garbage whisked about in the wind.
Heroes Park board convener Dr Daya Appavoo said BCM was responsible for its maintenance and he was aware that the viewing deck had been varnished near the end of last year.
“It’s got to be vandals messing up the place,” he said. Appavoo said a steering committee had been formed last year to apply for Lotto funding in order to put a proposal together to add a “world-class museum” to Heroes Park.
“This would have a significant impact on the development of our city,” he said.
BCM did not respond to questions at the time of writing. Last year the municipality's tourism department held a media junket and hosted national tour operators and travel writers on a tour of Buffalo City's attractions.
Heroes Park was one of the key stops of the three-day promotional tour. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Heroes Park in state of neglect
Billed as a cultural tourist attraction, East London’s Heroes Park is strewn with rubbish and showing signs of neglect.
The complex, which overlooks the Indian Ocean, comprises a Wall of Remembrance commemorating hundreds of Eastern Cape heroes and struggle icons including Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Donald Woods and Athol Fugard as well as the German Settler Monument and Multicultural Man statue.
Beneath the overhang of the viewing deck, there were signs that the covered area had been used as a makeshift sleeping spot. These included layers of cardboard, signs of a fire and litter.
Stagnant water pooled at the base of the Multicultural Man, which was donated to the African continent by Italy and is one of five such statues worldwide.
It is now surrounded with sturdy palisade fencing after being vandalised in 2010.
The landscaped sections of the complex are overgrown with weeds and garbage whisked about in the wind.
Heroes Park board convener Dr Daya Appavoo said BCM was responsible for its maintenance and he was aware that the viewing deck had been varnished near the end of last year.
“It’s got to be vandals messing up the place,” he said. Appavoo said a steering committee had been formed last year to apply for Lotto funding in order to put a proposal together to add a “world-class museum” to Heroes Park.
“This would have a significant impact on the development of our city,” he said.
BCM did not respond to questions at the time of writing. Last year the municipality's tourism department held a media junket and hosted national tour operators and travel writers on a tour of Buffalo City's attractions.
Heroes Park was one of the key stops of the three-day promotional tour. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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