Cape Town - The power to take the statue of Cecil John Rhodes down is in the hands of UCT.
This is according to research carried out by the ANCYL in the Western Cape.
The youth league’s leader in the province, Muhammad Khalid Sayed, said the statue was not declared a national monument and that the university could decide what to do with it.
UCT was declared a national monument in 1983 and the statue, which was moved to its current position in 1962, however is not protected under the Heritage Act.
“They (UCT) must stop passing the buck to government, not even provincial government can decide.
“It is up to them to decide that it must go and when it must go. It is not even a provincial monument, they need to stop putting red tape in the way.”
Khalid said the youth league was merely supporting the “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign and that they were behind removing “colonialist symbols”.
“We call on the Western Cape public to take part in UCT mass meeting on Thursday, where the outcome of the council meeting will be discussed. The removal of the statue and other colonial monuments connects with their (underprivileged people) struggles.”
Khalid said the removal of colonial monuments was not a way of taking away parts of history as there were “more progressive ways of remembering Cecil John Rhodes or Jan van Riebeeck and Louis Botha”.
UCT’s Student Representative Council president, Ramabina Mahapa, said they were happy with the support they were receiving from political parties and civic organisations.
Mahapa said they were hoping for a positive outcome from the council meeting that will take place today and a date when the statue will be moved.
“The students just want the statue moved from campus, the majority view is that it should be moved and not at all defaced.”
The UCT council will meet at the university on Thursday to discuss a way forward.
Cape Argus