Varsity transformation row hits G’town

[caption id="attachment_73560" align="alignright" width="300"] IT'S A WRAP: Cecil John Rhodes' statue at UCT, which is at the centre of controversy
Image by: ADRIAN DE KOCK[/caption]

Rhodes at centre of debate as UCT vice-chancellor backs down on statue

CECIL John Rhodes’s days are numbered. Following a week of student protest, University of Cape Town vice-chancellor Max Price has given the clearest indication yet that the controversial statue of Rhodes will be moved from its “pride of place, at the focal point of the campus”.

But this will do little to stop student action against lack of transformation spreading to other campuses.

Closer to home, Rhodes University students in Grahamstown – using the hashtag #RhodesSoWhite – staged a protest yesterday about the slow pace of transformation and lack of inclusivity at Rhodes. Posters with the words #RhodesSoWhite appeared on campus, a spin-off from debates on Twitter and Facebook.

“There was a feeling that we need to challenge the apathy at Rhodes because it is a very comfortable space for privileged students,” Joseph Coetzee, one of the protest organisers, said.

SRC secretary general Abi Butcher said: “We, unfortunately, have been complacent for so long and that can’t happen anymore. We need to handle these issues in such a way that we represent everyone concerned.”

Butcher said while the hashtag was started as a “well-placed” intention, continuous debates saw it escalate to anger, hate speech, suppression and generalisation.

“#RhodesSoWhite [Rhodes is so white] that students question black lecturers’ credentials and make fun of their black accent,” said one. “#RhodesSoWhite that white people are too blind to understand the significance of why we are calling out white privilege,” said another.

A meeting between students and management is planned for tonight.

Rhodes history lecturer and transformation activist Nomalanga Mkhize said: “Students want to see universities take a genuine lead in transformation and want to feel they can believe in the university as a moral entity.”