WHEN Fanyana Sibanyoni got the idea to erect statues in remembrance of his late family members, little did he know social media users would use his art to cause an uproar.
This after the statues were shared, with suggestions that they were of struggle icons Oliver Tambo and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Statues were said to have cost the Mpumalanga government more than R15 million.
Dee.kay tweeted: “This is not a late April Fool’s joke. No, these two ‘masterpiece’ statues of Oliver and Winnie cost more than R15 million of taxpayers money in Mpumalanga.”
But Fanyana rubbished the claims, saying they had nothing to do with government. He told Daily Sun that in 2017, he hired people to erect them to keep his late family members’ spirits alive.
“These statues have been here for a long time. There are also photos of my parents on the walls. These are the people who raised me, and I know they’re with me spiritually,” he said.
He said he was surprised when he was visited by officials from the Department of Arts and Culture regarding his art.
“These statues are not even worth a fortune. I spent less that a R1 000 for them; they were made with cement and water.”
Fanyana asked social media users to refrain from misinforming people.
Department spokeswoman Sibongile Nkosi said: “The department is the custodian of arts and heritage in the province. Therefore, the process of commissioning statues is communicated with affected stakeholders. The fact that information of this nature was never communicated simply means government has nothing to do with the statues. Authors must stop linking government.”
