Durban -
The statue row came to Durban on Wednesday night when the bronze of King George V at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was defaced.
Students and staff arrived on campus on Thursday morning to find the words “End white privilege” splashed in white paint on the statue outside the Howard College building.
Controversy has been raging over the future of colonial and apartheid-era symbols, sparked by the “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign at the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University.
Students and activists have been calling for the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes, the colonial mining magnate and politician.
UKZN spokesman, Lesiba Seshoka, said on Thursday that they were very disappointed to learn of the vandalism and criticised the direction the latest protest had taken.
No proposals or motions for the removal of the statue had been made to the university’s council, he said.
“We as a university have no problem when people show opposition to certain things. Opposition and criticism we welcome, but it is not acceptable for people to just wake up and damage university property.
“We are an open university, we want people to engage, we are very disappointed in the route that has been followed and we feel that it is problematic,” he said.
The university would be investigating the incident and CCTV footage would be used to find out who was responsible.
UKZN post-graduate student and EFF provincial deputy chairman Jackie Shandu has welcomed the vandalism of the statue, saying it was long overdue.
“These statues take us back. The new South Africa must be new in all aspects, not just those which are convenient for a select few.”
However, UKZN Howard College Student Representative Council president Zamokuhle Manqele told the Daily News that the high cost of education facing students was a more important debate and should be getting the lion’s share of attention.
“The whole country has been engulfed in debate about this Rhodes statue. What about the thousands of students who cannot access education because of financial exclusion? This social cause is lost to society. No one is interested when we talk about the continued sidelining of black students at tertiary institutions because of finance.
“That statue brings nothing. Ruining it will do nothing to change the realities of the economic conditions of black people,” Manqele said.
However, Shandu said the defacing of the statue marked the start of a revolution which would bring real change and social justice which included, among other things, free quality education.
Seshoka said the university had a process to review buildings and statues at the university. “As we are the most transformed university in South Africa, we want to continue to represent the demographics of the country in terms of the elements on campus.”
Manqele said although no formal motion to remove the statue had been tabled, students had raised questions, requesting the matter be taken up with the university’s council.
“We cannot take on every issue at once... We are still dealing with the problem of students who are financially excluded, which is something students at UCT are not affected by because they have bursaries.
“Here at UKZN most of the students are reliant on financial aid and come from disadvantaged families,” he said. – Additional reporting Daily News Correspondents
Daily News