Cecil John Rhodes statue covered in bags

The statue of Cecil John Rhodes remained covered with black bags. Photo: David Ritchie

The statue of Cecil John Rhodes remained covered with black bags. Photo: David Ritchie

Published Mar 16, 2015

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Cape Town - UCT students targeted the prologue of the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race at the campus on Sunday to continue their protest calling for the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes, covering it with black bags.

The statue was covered for most of the day with the words, “Rhodes must fall”, written in chalk on the steps in front of the statue.

The mountain bike race continued despite the protest.

Last week, student Chumani Maxwele threw faeces over the base of the statue and the 30-year-old student was involved in the protest on Sunday.

“We covered the statue because we do not want it to be the symbol of the university. Since the last protests people have come up and supported our cause which has been very encouraging for me. It shows that we have people of different races that can come together and help make a better South Africa. But how can we be unified with such a divisive figure like the Rhodes statue standing in the way?” said Maxwele.

On Thursday, students, led by UCT’s SRC, packed the plaza above Jammie Steps, calling for the statue to be taken down.

The management of the institution has suggested the possibility of taking the statue down. The SRC and Maxwele are hoping for a decision by the end of this week.

“The SRC has organised a march on Friday from the statue to the Bremner Building, which is where the vice-chancellor’s office is. We will march to the office on that day to get a date from the university of when the statue will be taken down.

“If we do not get a date then the SRC has promised to cut all communications with the university board, which just shows how much they believe that the statue must be taken down.”

Maxwele has vowed to keep the statue covered.

“Until Friday I will make sure that the statue stays covered even if it means that I must cover it all the time.”

The university condemned Maxwele’s poo protest last week and opened an investigation into the incident.

Maxwele, however, says he has been encouraged by how much support he has garnered since his initial protest.

“The language of the university certainly changed since last week.

“I went from the barbaric black man to being part of a group of young South Africans that want to enforce change. We are also meeting with the university tomorrow to get any charges dropped and for them to stop any sort of investigation.”

UCT said it would comment on the latest protest action on Monday.

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Cape Argus

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