UCT to discuss its heritage – but not with poo
I CONFIRM that a small group, including University of Cape Town students, participated in protest action on the upper campus on Monday. An individual among the protesters threw excrement at the statue of Cecil John Rhodes. While we respect the right of our students to protest and, in so doing, draw attention to the complex issues that confront all of us at UCT and in society at large, this is not a licence to engage in actions that in our view are reprehensible.
The use of excrement as a form of protest is unacceptable, and we condemn such action in the strongest terms. UCT has procedures that allow students to protest. It is regrettable that, in this instance, the protesters did not follow the established procedures. Quite independently of the Rhodes statue incident, we had already organised and advertised, in partnership with the Student Representative Council, the UCT initiative to debate the issue of symbols in a wider context of transformation at the university. A series of discussions that will be scheduled over the rest of this year will commence on March 16.
The first topic will be Heritage, Signage and Symbolism. All are welcome to attend these discussions, which are intended to be an opportunity to debate the very issues that many members of the UCT community feel strongly about, but which individuals involved in the Rhodes statue incident unfortunately chose to raise in a way that cannot be condoned.
The Rhodes statue incident also led to a complaint about how a campus security officer dealt with a photographer who had accompanied a journalist to the upper campus to cover the story. We are addressing this matter, on the basis that UCT respects the rights of members of the press to report freely and without hindrance in the exercise of their function. In addition, we are investigating an allegation of assault of a campus security officer by a student protester.
UCT endorses freedom of expression. We encourage open debate and urge our students and staff to participate in discussions that contribute to responsible action. PROFESSOR SANDRA KLOPPER Acting Vice-Chancellor University of Cape Town