November 12 marked 100 years since the unveiling of the East London Remembrance Day cenotaph and this year, local clergy have called for renewed protection of the memorial against threats of urban expansion.
Reverend Barry Wittstock, who delivered the main address, called for the municipality to protect the consecrated grounds on the corner of Oxford Street and Lukin Road and to invest in efforts to ensure the spot is kept free of litter and vandalism.
Wittstock said: “I have heard murmurs of this space possibly being used for expansion by the college across the road and it must be stated that if this is pursued there will be reaction against it from the public.
“This ground was set aside by the city forefathers to be a place of remembrance and so it must remain.”
Talks of using this space for commercial interests were first stirred in 2019, when developers proposed to establish a KFC fast food facility on the southeast corner of the intersection of Oxford Street and Lukin Road. This was condemned by Border Historical Society (BHS) in letters to the municipality and relevant stakeholders citing the irreparable damage this would cause to the city’s heritage.
Acting city manager Ncumisa Sidukwana affirmed the municipality’s commitment towards protecting the cenotaph and surrounding sites and said in the new financial year the municipality would be implementing its plans to install cameras around the site to intensify efforts to protect the cenotaph and lychgate from theft and vandalism. Following the vandalism of the cenotaph in 2021, costing R250,000, the municipality installed fencing around its perimeter.
Sidukwana said: “It is important to pay respects to the heroes of the past who fought for the ideals of liberation at various points in our national history and as a result we take the security of the cenotaph and surrounds, seriously.
“Through our spatial development framework of the city, this place will not experience any possible expansion because this is consecrated grounds.
“We are looking at establishing more seating so the space can continue to be used for spiritual reflection.”
Lt Col Malcolm Cock said there are plans afoot by various interested stakeholders in future to include more memorials on the grounds to mark other national and local heroes, and to fence off the area currently utilised as a car park during the day. These plans were subject to budget constraints and would be completed in phases.
Piper Dave Rankin from the Caledonian Society said he would ‘fight tooth and nail’ to protect the space from expansion and believed that investing in sites of culture, heritage and art was important so that spiritual development in the city could be preserved.
Wittstock said the war memorial stood as a reminder of Buffalo City’s commitment to promoting peace nationally and internationally.
BHS said it hoped in future that sites that have been besieged by vandalism such as the cenotaph would one day have their fences removed and the spaces returned to the public realm. BHS also hoped to establish memorials that honour the heroes from the liberation struggle at the site.
BHS chair William Martinson said: “As long as there are people living in East London who lost family members in World War 1 and 2, there will be an interest in the memorial.
“The act of repairing and renovating such memorials is an act of faith in the future and will give the local community a hope that the city might get better even if it requires civic action to do it!”
