Rhodes removal like 'fall of white power'

Cranes lift a statue of Cecil John Rhodes during the removal of the statue at the University of Cape Town on Thursday. Photographer: Trevor Samson.

After weeks of protests that spread to other parts of the country, students at the University of Cape Town finally succeeded in getting the statue removed from the campus.

A huge crowd of students - emotional and animated - surrounded the statue as it rose off its pedestal and was placed onto the back of a waiting truck amid rising cheers.

Earlier, the fence surrounding the statue collapsed as students pushed forward to get a better view.

Police tried to appeal for calm but the militant students responded: "Remember Marikana!", and chanted: "One settler, one bullet."

As workers secured the statue onto the flatbed truck, dozens of students jumped onto the vehicle, slapped the face of the statue and covered it with paper and ribbons.

Some splashed green paint over its head, which dripped down its face. Its nose had already been painted orange in a previous incident of vandalism.

The university council on Wednesday resolved to remove the statue. It is now up to heritage authorities to look after it before a decision on what to do with it is taken.

Management was forced to act after politics student Chumani Maxwele threw human faeces at it to highlight what he called institutionalised racism at UCT.

Speaking to The Times yesterday, Maxwele said the group that campaigned for the statue to be removed welcomed the decision.

"Management was not interested. It was a concerted effort by students, who pushed and made it a national issue."

He said that Rhodes's fall represented "the fall of white power".

"It's been an emotional experience," said Snothando Mthimunye.