The Rhodes statue is situated within a memorial site in Devil’s Peak, Cape Town; an area considered to have been the colonialist’s “favourite spot”, according to News24. Naturally, the British coloniser’s racist treatment of Black South Africans makes his statue an appropriate target of protest action; at a time when systemic racism and its many symbols are being confronted directly.
Cecil Rhodes Must Fall Movement
Similarly, statues have either been defaced or removed altogether from public view in the US; and European countries such as Belgium amid ongoing Black Lives Matter protests all over the world. Back in 2015, another statue of Rhodes was removed from the University of Cape Town’s main campus after students protested for consecutive weeks during what became known as the Rhodes Must Fall movement.
Additionally, the statue of former Apartheid President of the Free State province, Martinus Theunis Steyn; was quietly removed from the University of the Free State’s main campus last month. The statue will reportedly be kept at the War Museum, according to reports by Bloemfontein Courant.
Cde Zindzi,s revolutionary spirit and soul is alive and kicking..! #RIPZindziMandela #RhodeMustFall pic.twitter.com/EL9t6ZSnyc
— Tornado..Veteran 102 (@tyengeni1954) July 15, 2020
