I’m no hero, says student who saw Rhodes off
CHUMANI Maxwele, the man who started the fracas that led to the toppling of the Rhodes statue, says he is no hero.
This was, he says, just one action he has taken to fight for equality.
The statue of Cecil John Rhodes at the University of Cape Town might have fallen but the 30-year-old politics student who threw human excrement at it is not about to restrain his fighting spirit.
“I wear many hats — I run, swim, cycle — but what’s most important to me is this idea of being an African,” he says.
“UCT wants to elevate black people as individuals, which leads to elitism. Blackness is no longer about ubuntu, the idea of ‘I see you’ on a human level.”
Maxwele regrets nothing and says he would not change a step on the path he has taken.
“As a rural boy, I don’t have time for regrets. Only affluent kids can do that. ”
Maxwele first made headlines in 2010 when he was harassed and detained by President Jacob Zuma’s bodyguards for showing a zap sign to the presidential motorcade as it passed while he was jogging in Cape Town.
On Friday, a day after the Rhodes statue was removed from the university’s upper campus, Maxwele was back at it — this time negotiating on behalf of students who face disciplinary action for occupying the university’s administration building after the statue was removed.
The vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town, Max Price, has “drawn a line” and is taking action against a splinter group within the protest movement that has made “threats of violence” and used “intimidation tactics”.
The student representative council ended a three-week sitin when the statue came down but another group — allegedly made up not only of students but also members of the Economic Freedom Fighters and land-invasion lobby groups — ignored the 2pm deadline on Friday.
A court order was granted, giving the recalcitrant group until tomorrow to comply with the ruling or fight it in court, failing which its members will face eviction by the police.
Price said on Friday: “The protest had been dignified but on Wednesday night, driven by this extreme group, they crossed the line when they invaded the [university] council meeting.
“What disturbed me most were the chants of ‘one settler, one bullet’ at that meeting, and at the protest the following day. It is not just a chant but was accompanied by people pointing a finger at white students or staff in the vicinity and is not the kind of climate we want on campus.”
Price said cases of trespassing, and of breaking and entering could be brought against this group because it had pushed its way through a closed door.
He said the group had “taken an extremely hard line and called for the whole country — including the constitution — to change and this could be achieved only through violence because any peaceful transformation effort was only symbolic.”
Price said he was deeply disturbed by racist remarks made against black people on social media in response to the events on campus.
“We have seen tweets calling people ‘savages’, and even the use of the k-word. We have investigated every single one and they are not coming from our students, but some use pseudonyms so it would be hard to say [who is speaking].
“We will take action against any person we can find who is engaging in this.”
It emerged yesterday that UCT is to keep the Rhodes statue while the heritage authorities decide on a new home for it.
What’s most important to me is this idea of being an African