Tamed: the eland at the top of Jan Smuts Avenue in Braamfontein

The men are miners, grouped together and facing southwest to Langlaagte, where gold was first discovered in Johannesburg in 1886. The sculpture is called the Miners' Monument, and was donated to the City in 1964 by The Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines.

"The artwork symbolises the contribution of the mining industry to the wealth and prosperity of South Africa," reads the plaque at the site. "It was also intended as a people's monument and celebrates the working people who built the city."

The three men – two black miners and a white supervisor – make a striking threesome, with muscular arms and legs and bare backs, holding a large drill.

It was made by David MacGregor, who also produced a statue of Carl von Brandis, the city's first commissioner of mines, which stands outside the High Court. It was originally proposed that the two sculptures be one. A maquette of them together was made and displayed in the council's committee room, but the idea was abandoned.

"The maquette was reported upon unfavourably by the Africana Museum [now Museum Africa] Advisory Committee, the architect assessors on the Ad Hoc Civic Centre Board, by the Aesthetic Control Advisory Committee and by the Art Gallery Committee," according to the minutes of an ordinary council meeting of 28 May 1963.

After some discussion with the Chamber of Mines, the proposed single sculpture was commissioned as separate artworks, and placed at different sites in the inner city. It was felt that the two ideas were not complementary.

"Perhaps the main underlying reason for the adverse reports on the original concept, which incidentally do not reflect the views of all those who viewed the maquette, was that there appeared to be no relationship between Carl von Brandis and the group of miners," continues the minutes.

Two maquettes have survived: one in the foyer of the Chamber of Mines, the other at Museum Africa in Newtown.

Bronze

Karabounarliev was called on again to do his magic with the sculpture. He says the sculpture is in good condition, but needed a little welding on the legs where small holes had developed.

Bronze is made primarily from copper, mixed with tin, zinc, nickel and other metals. Its natural colour is light red, and it never rusts. It is repatinated by giving it a protective coating, the result of a chemical treatment. Karabounarliev has given it a dark brown colour this time around, which, he says, should last for another 20 years.

The base of the statue and the paving around the base have been pressure cleaned and repointed.

The sculpture was originally surrounded by lights, and a fountain sprayed up on to the figures, but the metal fittings for these were stolen some time ago. In 2002, the right boot of one of the miners was sawn off, while a blade was to be seen sticking out the leg of the other miner. The boot was restored and the blade removed.

The JDA spent about R200 000 on the repatination of the sculpture, says Sophia Ndhlovu, the development co-ordinator at the agency.

There are now several impressive sculptures demarcating the entrances to the inner city. The Braamfontein Eland and the recently unveiled Firewalker, together with the Miners' Monument, mark the northerly entrance to the CBD. The Paper Pigeon, installed this week in Pigeon Square, marks the western entrance, while the Shepherd Ndudzo diamond-shaped sculpture heralds the eastern entrance.