Huge cost could hinder effort to rename Rhodes

Debate raises views ranging from ‘waste of time’ to imperative for varsity to reconsider its identity

IT was money that led the founders of Rhodes University to name the institution after arch imperialist and racist Cecil John Rhodes and money that will hinder changing the name, historian Professor Paul Maylam said.

It cost Rand Afrikaans University about R50-million to change its name to the University of Johannesburg and it would cost a lot more to rebrand Rhodes University internationally and at home, it was argued at a debate on renaming the institution.

Setting the scene of the debate held at the university this week, Maylam said by naming the institution after Rhodes it had managed to access a slice of the £5-million (R84-million) sitting in the Rhodes trust for start-up funding.

He said the name-change debate had only really gained traction with the #RhodesMustFall campaign in 2015 which had made the Rhodes brand toxic.

Rhodes was an arch imperialist, a racist and rode roughshod over African societies, he said.

He said the only argument against changing the name was a pragmatic one as it would be extremely costly.

“Really, it is just cosmetic. It’s window dressing. Therefore, you have to ask, how much money you want to spend on this?

“How much of a priority is the name change over other transformation imperatives?”

Leroy Maisiri, an activist and Rhodes doctoral candidate in the department of sociology, said changing the name in the absence of real transformation was cosmetic and a waste of time.

“[A name change] doesn’t really fix the real issues,” he said.

The university was the economic hub of Grahamstown and if the name-change issue was used to suffocate the only good thing in Grahamstown, then “we are making what is essentially an 8 000-student issue affect the livelihoods of an entire town”, Maisiri said.

“I’m not here about the name. It’s not about the name. I don’t care what this institution is called.

“If you changed the name tomorrow, the name Rhodes will never leave my CV. I am smarter than that.”

Prominent journalist and Media and Writers Firm founder Rich Mkhondo said the institution had to be strategic about name change as it could be dangerous, superficial and expensive.

Money was scarce and poverty in the Eastern Cape was endemic.

“It is a waste of time and effort. We should be talking about many things we should be doing in this country rather than name change,” he said.

But artist Songezile Madikida said the #RMF campaign had captured the everyday pain and emotional trauma experienced by black people in an institution of learning where nothing had changed.

He said pressure needed to be brought to bear on those who maintained the status quo of white monopoly and racism.

A total overhaul of society was needed, not just of knowledge-producing institutions

“If Rhodes University wants to be a home to all the people of South Africa and not just to the small group of people who relate to its name and legacy, it needs to undergo some serious introspection.

“As part of its community, we need to force it to reconsider its identity in terms of what it is labelled so that it can be part of the future.”