News / Africa
'Rhodes Must Fall' campaign gains momentum
23 Mar 2015 at 16:42hrs | Views
University of Cape Town students are demanding that management make public its stance on their calls to have the statue of Cecil John Rhodes destroyed.
They are also demanding that Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price convene an urgent council meeting on Friday to discuss their request to have the statue razed to the ground.
These two demands are contained in a memorandum that the students submitted to the university's management this afternoon, following a mass meeting. The meeting, he said, was attended by more than 600 people.
Student Representative Council member Ramabina Mahapa said: "The Vice-chancellor should call a special meeting on Friday. We also need management to give us their positions on the matter. Do they want the statue destroyed or what."
As the campaign to have the statue moved enters its the third week, students have now upped the ante by occupying the Bremner building, the university's administration block. The occupation began on Friday, and Mahapa said the staff had to use a different building this morning.
Calls for the statue to be destroyed surfaced three weeks ago after a student had tossed the statue with human excrement. They claimed that it represented what Rhodes stood for: racism and white supremacy.
Students have created a Facebook page called Rhodes Must Fall. They are also driving the campaign through Twitter, under #RhodesMustFall.
The campaign has spilt over to Rhodes University in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape. Students at Rhodes are calling for management to change the university's name. They have complained about institutional racism, an alienating culture and lack of transformation.
They are also demanding that Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price convene an urgent council meeting on Friday to discuss their request to have the statue razed to the ground.
These two demands are contained in a memorandum that the students submitted to the university's management this afternoon, following a mass meeting. The meeting, he said, was attended by more than 600 people.
Student Representative Council member Ramabina Mahapa said: "The Vice-chancellor should call a special meeting on Friday. We also need management to give us their positions on the matter. Do they want the statue destroyed or what."
Calls for the statue to be destroyed surfaced three weeks ago after a student had tossed the statue with human excrement. They claimed that it represented what Rhodes stood for: racism and white supremacy.
Students have created a Facebook page called Rhodes Must Fall. They are also driving the campaign through Twitter, under #RhodesMustFall.
The campaign has spilt over to Rhodes University in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape. Students at Rhodes are calling for management to change the university's name. They have complained about institutional racism, an alienating culture and lack of transformation.
Source - City Press
