UCT council gives green light for the removal of Rhodes statue
MINUTES after the UCT council took a decision that the statue of Cecil John Rhodes will be removed from campus, frustrated students stormed the council meeting and interrupted proceedings last night.
The situation turned ugly when students became agitated after the announcement of the decision was delayed.
The decision, which was meant to be announced by 6.30pm, was only announced after 7.30pm.
The statue of Rhodes on the UCT campus, which has been at the university for 81 years, has been at the centre of an intense battle that saw a campaign calling for it to be removed.
The “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign by UCT students gained momentum earlier this year, with students, supported by political parties, civic organisations, and other UCT academics insisting the statue should be taken down as it would be “symbolic for the inevitable fall of white supremacy and privilege at our campus”, according to the campaign’s description on its Facebook page.
The council met yesterday evening to announce its decision, at Allan Cormack House in Mowbray.
A group of students sang Struggle songs and maintained their support for the campaign while council met inside.
B-Com accounting student Otsile Mabalane said he would be happy if the statue was removed.
From page 1
“They say we are transforming, but we can’t with symbols of colonialism and apartheid, symbols of oppression. It’s like we are contradicting ourselves.”
Student representative council (SRC) president Ramabina Mahapa said the statue would be removed today. “The decision has been made and the statue will be taken away; we are now dealing with an amendment raised in the meeting.”
He said they were discussing documents of demands put forward by the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union and the SRC.
After the council refused to continue the meeting after students had invaded the meeting, the group continued their singing and refused to let the council out – with the exception of Sandra Klopper, a council member, who managed to leave the venue.
The decision by the UCT council to have the statue removed from the upper campus does not mean it will take place immediately.
The statue is situated on a provincial heritage site, which means it may not be removed without a permit from Heritage Western Cape.
“The National Heritage Resources Act, 1999, provides that no person may destroy, damage, deface, excavate, alter, remove from its original position, subdivide or change the planning status of any heritage site without a permit issued by Heritage Western Cape (HWC),” said HWC acting chief executive, Hannetjie du Preez.
“Regulations for an application for a permit require a public consultation process with interested and affected parties that must be completed prior to the submission of the application to HWC. As the upper campus of UCT is a provincial heritage site, the mandated committee of HWC will consider the application.”
She said HWC had received only one application for a permit to remove public monuments and memorials over the past few years.
The permit, requested by the City of Cape Town to move the Cenotaph war memorial on Adderley Street to Heerengracht to make way for a MyCiTi feeder station, was granted.