Durban - The statue of King George V at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College campus continues to be vandalised by unknown people.
This was revealed by SA Students Congress (Sasco) KZN secretary Pinda Mofokeng on Sunday.
Pictures of the statue circulated at the weekend showed unclear black-and-red spray-painted text.
“Each day since that thing (defacing of the statue) started there have been new alterations,” said Mofokeng.
Sasco will meet UKZN vice-chancellor Dr Albert van Jaarsveld on day, as the 48-hour deadline for the removal of the statue has been reached. Asked what would happen should the university decide not to remove the statue, Mofokeng said: “They will get rid of that thing. That’s what we expect. Those statues are a reminder of the brutal past.”
UKZN spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told The Mercury last week an urgent meeting by the university’s naming committee would be convened.
In Cape Town, the Cecil John Rhodes statue which has occupied a prominent spot at UCT for more than 80 years has been boarded up and is now out of sight. The sculpture was boxed in with wooden boards on Saturday night.
This came after UCT vice-chancellor Max Price tabled a motion to the university’s Senate on Friday, on behalf of the Senior Leadership Group, to remove the Rhodes statue from its current position.
The student representative council, which is spearheading the Rhodes Must Fall campaign, made a proposal to remove the statue permanently from the campus. “This amendment was supported, as was a further amendment that while awaiting a final decision from the UCT Council and Heritage Western Cape, the statue should be boarded up. The final amended proposal was supported by 181 votes, with one against and three abstentions,” Price said.
The Mercury