Cecil Rhodes is important part of our heritage

I AM deeply alarmed that the University of Cape Town is convening a meeting to consider the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes.

Who are these infantile people who believe that by throwing poo on a statue they now have the right to demand the removal of the statue concerned?

If it was not for Rhodes, many of these young students would not be enjoying the privilege of being part of UCT – a world-wide recognised institution.

In spite of the Anglo-Boer War, even the Nationalists’ government did not destroy the history of Rhodes.

Subsequent to the establishment of the Rhodes Scholarship in 1902, the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship was formed.

According to the Mandela Rhodes Foundation’s website: “The bringing together of these two names represents a symbolic moment in the closing of the historic circle; drawing together the legacies of reconciliation and leadership and those of entrepreneurship and education.”

It would be of interest to know whether, if any of these students were offered a scholarship from this organisation, they would refuse to accept it on account of the scholarship bearing Rhodes’s name.

Or are they going to insist that the name of Rhodes be dropped from the name of the organisation?

I repeat a quote I have come across: “A nation that neglects its intellectual treasures undermines its culture and sows the seeds of decline – a nation without history is like a man without memories.”

Rhodes is very much part of our history, as are Nelson Mandela, Jan Smuts, Walter Sisulu, Steve Biko, Mahatma Gandhi, Helen Suzman and King Shaka, to name a few.

Whatever Rhodes’s political failings may have been, he was a great entrepreneur and helped build much of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

It must also be remembered that Rhodes left most of his wealth to South Africa and a fine example is that he bequeathed over 500 hectares of his land for the establishment of the first botanical gardens in the world, Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.

I suggest that if this statue is removed it should be re-erected in these gardens.

If we compare Rhodes with what the present ANC government is doing to South Africa there is a vast difference. Rhodes was a builder, unlike the ANC which is destroying most of what it inherited in 1994.

Not one of the government’s parastatals including Eskom, SAA, Transnet, the Post Office, and Telkom are profitable, and hardly a day goes by that we do not read of corrupt government officials being found out.

The education system is a failure, hospitals are on the decline, and few of the ANC-controlled municipalities receive clear audits.

I am also concerned why dissatisfied blacks in South Africa want to destroy what they already have. One merely has to see their destruction of buildings when they protest against the present ANC for poor service delivery.

Surely after 20 years of democracy, blacks realise they now have the power to show the government their dissatisfaction peacefully through the ballot box instead of destruction.

Most nations have both a good and bad history, and I ask blacks to stop using “white imperialism” as a guise for racism.

I can assure these blacks that the majority of whites want to live in harmony with blacks.

South Africa is the country of our birth and we want to share not only our heritage but also their heritage.

Please do not blot the Rainbow Nation envisaged by Nelson Mandela.