Post-apartheid South African businesses removed regime symbols gradually to avoid confrontation.

Evidence

When we questioned some pictures on the wall reflecting affiliation to the former regime of President Botha, the manager we spoke to appeared sensitive to our critique. He explained that Botha had his residence around the corner of the hotel, was a frequent visitor to their restaurant, and indeed had opened the hotel in the mid 1980s while still president. Removal of all the pictures at once was considered too confrontational and awkward. According to the manager they had taken down a lot already, the rest would go with the major reconstruction coming soon. At the writing of this article, two months later, I received word through a colleague who had just stayed at the same hotel that only one Botha picture is left. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1509

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to accounts of gradual de-Nazification and regime-symbol removal in other post-authoritarian transitions.