At 5.37pm yesterday Cecil John Rhodes “fell” after weeks of protest that sparked a movement across the country.
Students at the University of Cape Town had finally succeeded in getting the statue of Rhodes moved from the campus.
A heaving crowd of students – emotional and animated – surrounded the statue as it rose off its pedestal and cheered as it was placed on to the back of a waiting truck.
Earlier, the fence surrounding the statue collapsed as students pushed forward to get a better view.
Police tried to control the crowd, which drew the chant “Remember Marikana” from students. Then they chanted: “One settler, one bullet.”
As workers secured the statue on the flatbed truck, dozens of students jumped on to the truck, slapped the face of the statue and covered it with paper and ribbons. Some splashed green paint over its head, which dripped down the face. Its nose had already been painted orange when the statue – which had been at the university since 1934 – was vandalised previously.
It is now up to heritage authorities to look after it before a decision on what to do with it is taken.
Yesterday’s removal came as the statue of Louis Botha outside of parliament became the latest in a series of statues to be vandalised.
The monument to the first prime minister of the South African Union – which depicts Botha on a horse inscribed with the tribute “warrior‚ farmer‚ statesman” – was covered in red and blue paint.
While the ANC and Freedom Front Plus decried the vandalism of the statue, the EFF applauded the act.
By yesterday afternoon, the statue had attracted youths aligned to Afriforum, who protested alongside black advocates who have been protesting the lack of transformation in the justice system since last month.
The defacing of statues constituted “sheer acts of hooliganism and criminality which should be frowned upon by all sensible and law-abiding South Africans”, ANC chief whip Stone Sizani’s office said yesterday.
The EFF said yesterday: “Let all statues fall, together with their legacies of landlessness, racism and poverty.”
Chairwoman of parliament’s arts and culture committee, Xoliswa Tom, said yesterday the defacing of statues was “merely the spark that will ignite further polarisation among South Africans”.
“The committee is also of the view that while the country’s dark history cannot be celebrated, the nation can continue to reflect on the past so that the country is aware of where it comes from.”
Rhodes ‘falls’ to cheers as Louis Botha statue is defaced
Students at the University of Cape Town had finally succeeded in getting the statue of Rhodes moved from the campus.
A heaving crowd of students – emotional and animated – surrounded the statue as it rose off its pedestal and cheered as it was placed on to the back of a waiting truck.
Earlier, the fence surrounding the statue collapsed as students pushed forward to get a better view.
Police tried to control the crowd, which drew the chant “Remember Marikana” from students. Then they chanted: “One settler, one bullet.”
As workers secured the statue on the flatbed truck, dozens of students jumped on to the truck, slapped the face of the statue and covered it with paper and ribbons. Some splashed green paint over its head, which dripped down the face. Its nose had already been painted orange when the statue – which had been at the university since 1934 – was vandalised previously.
It is now up to heritage authorities to look after it before a decision on what to do with it is taken.
Yesterday’s removal came as the statue of Louis Botha outside of parliament became the latest in a series of statues to be vandalised.
The monument to the first prime minister of the South African Union – which depicts Botha on a horse inscribed with the tribute “warrior‚ farmer‚ statesman” – was covered in red and blue paint.
While the ANC and Freedom Front Plus decried the vandalism of the statue, the EFF applauded the act.
By yesterday afternoon, the statue had attracted youths aligned to Afriforum, who protested alongside black advocates who have been protesting the lack of transformation in the justice system since last month.
The defacing of statues constituted “sheer acts of hooliganism and criminality which should be frowned upon by all sensible and law-abiding South Africans”, ANC chief whip Stone Sizani’s office said yesterday.
The EFF said yesterday: “Let all statues fall, together with their legacies of landlessness, racism and poverty.”
Chairwoman of parliament’s arts and culture committee, Xoliswa Tom, said yesterday the defacing of statues was “merely the spark that will ignite further polarisation among South Africans”.
“The committee is also of the view that while the country’s dark history cannot be celebrated, the nation can continue to reflect on the past so that the country is aware of where it comes from.”
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