Academics, writers and artists in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape, are demanding that the local municipality remove a statue of Cecil John Rhodes. Rhodes was one of the founders of the De Beers mining company in the city and an advocate of British imperialism.
The statue has been standing in the Kimberley city centre for more than 100 years.
Dear Kimberley and everyone who lives in it, are you still contend with Cecil John Rhodes immortalized in your city with a statue? Do you embrace his legacy? @chematlhako @africanarchives @NgxangaDeshi @TlhaoleShadrack @mokaewriter @Julius_S_Malema @kingabsolom @andrewlouwDA pic.twitter.com/49ctoUQ5w6
— MyNorthernCapeTV (@myncapetv) June 9, 2020
On Friday, protesters gathered at its foot to protest Rhodes’ legacy which, they say, is shameful and should not be commemorated.
“He represents everything that we do not want. This statue is a symbol. It is a symbol of violence, it is a symbol of extreme violence and we don’t want to be walking past here and be reminded of this violence,” said one protester.
“The statue represents a sad part of history, we don’t want it here because we are offended by the colonial and apartheid iconography in our city,” added another one.
“It is a slap on our history, it is a slap on our heritage, it’s a slap on our dignity as Africans because we are continuing to suffer this white supremacist values that are legitimised through the statue of Cecil John Rhodes so we cannot have him staying in Kimberley,” explains the convenor of the protest, Thina Nzo.
The local Sol Plaatje Municipality says it will consider the anti-Rhodes protesters’ request.
Cecil John Rhodes,ultimate genius of resources looting in Africa who even had a country named after him, is criticized in the country of his birth& his statue is on the verge of being removed from oxford university& yet in mzantsi we relentlessly hold on to Rhodes university name pic.twitter.com/5t5JUm33Qs
— somadodafikeni (@somadodafikeni) June 12, 2020
Oxford university anti-Rhodes protests
The Kimberley demonstration is one of several such protests against the 19th century British colonialist.
More than 1 000 protesters converged on a college at Oxford University on Tuesday, chanting “take it down” and “shame on you.” They were also demanding to the removal of Rhodes’ statue.
Protesters converged on a college at Oxford University, chanting ‘take it down’ and ‘shame on you’ to demand the removal of a statue of 19th century British colonialist Cecil Rhodes https://t.co/gTSqFzle6f pic.twitter.com/RVXujKb1bv
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 9, 2020
In the video below, Rhodes’ statue is removed from University of Cape Town:
The colonialist’s statue was removed from UCT in 2015 following student protests, started by Chumani Maxwele who threw human waste on the statue.
The young people saw the statue as a symbol of institutional racism, Black oppression and patriarchy.