Rhodes and George V

On Monday I wrote a blog post about the statue of John Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Some students and staff wants it removed.

These feelings have now spread to our university but not to our campus. At Howard College Campus in Durban the statue of King George V has been defaced. I read about on News 24. But it also came a message from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

The Executive Director: Corporate Relations of the UKZN had issued a communique and says amongst other things:

The University of KwaZulu-Natal is deeply saddened and disappointed by the group of protestors who chose not to raise their concerns regarding the King George V statue through the proper channels established within UKZN. The University supports the students’ rights to exercise lawful freedom of expression and encourages open debate and discussion …….. The University will convene an urgent naming committee meeting to review the status-quo of all statues on all our campuses.

The more I think about it, the more I understand that this is a tough question. I don’t support the idea, that old statues must be smashed. I think that a society needs to be aware of its history. At the same time it is offensive that leaders, who were – even by the standards of that time – oppressive, should be taking up the central stage, as in this case right outside the main building of a university campus.

The idea to move rather than remove statues is a good one. By doing this the community will admit that even those persons are part of the history, but they will be given a less honourable space to occupy.

The question is: where does one find such a space?

John Cecil Rhodes has been compared to Hitler, Stalin, Khmer Rouge’s Pol Pot and Idi Amin. Would any society want to have one of them as a statue – anywhere?

It is a dilemma. I am glad that the university wants to engage in debate and discussion.

Must Rhodes fall?

John Cecil Rhodes was born in 1853, became rich from diamonds, British Prime Minister in the Cape and died, before his 50^th birthday, in 1902.

'Spes bona' means 'Good hope'.

After him two countries were named: North and South Rhodesia. Today Zambia and Zimbabwe. In South Africa one of the more prestigious universities is named after him: Rhodes University in Grahamstown. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), a statue of Rhodes I centrally placed.

Especially the statue at UCT is now causing debate and protests. 300 students and staff members have embarked on an overnight sit-in. The protest has also spread to Rhodes University.

Pietermaritzburg is quite far from both Cape Town and Grahamstown but through different internet sources I get some information. First of all it seems to me that the two universities are dealing with the matter in an open and democratic way. On the website of UCT a number of links refer to this conflict. The same at the Rhodes University website.

According to the UCT website, the Vice Rector, Max Price, wants the statue to be moved, not removed. I am not sure if this will be enough for students and staff.

On facebook, there is a community called: Rhodes must fall, with the explanation:

A collective student, staff and worker movement mobilising for direct action against the institutional racism of UCT.

Julius Malema, EFF, is also taking part in the protest and offers the support of the EFF to remove the statue of Rhodes, writes the Mail and Guardian. But he sees it as part of a greater war on Cape Town’s ‘apartheid regime’.

I also read in the Eyewitness News, that the ANC youth league is behind the protest.

It is not easy to know what is going on here. But one thing is for sure: the statue is just the tip of an iceberg.

Anyway, I like the way the academic world seems to deal with in in an open and transparent manner. I hope my analysis is correct. To me it a ‘good hope’.