#RhodesMustFall activists get scholarships

THE paradox of being a #RhodesMustFall activist as well as a Rhodes scholar-elect is not lost on Mbalenhle Matandela‚ but she believes being in this unique position can help her do good.

Matandela‚ 23‚ and fellow #RhodesMustFall activist Joshua Nott are among nine South Africans awarded scholarships of R670 000 each by the Rhodes Trust to join Oxford University later this year.

Both were involved in the 2015 protests at the University of Cape Town (UCT)‚ calling for a statue of Cecil John Rhodes to be removed from its prominent place on campus.

Matandela said she regarded the scholarship as an opportunity to learn more about the African diaspora and further her intellectual interests.

She will register for an MPhil in development studies when the academic year begins at the end of September‚ hoping to engage in a gendered analysis of development on the African continent.

She works for the University of the Witwatersrand’s Centre for Applied Legal Studies’ Right2Protest project.

Her honours thesis focused on the experiences of black women in the #RhodesMustFall movement.

Nott has been plunged into a social media storm in South Africa and the UK‚ with some labelling him a hypocrite for accepting the scholarship in light of his #RhodesMustFall activism.

The other Rhodes scholars-elect are Fuaad Coovadia‚ Emily van Heerden‚ Christiaan van der Walt‚ Keitumetse-Kabelo Murray‚ Saul Musker‚ Abigail Branford and Sizwe Mkwanazi.