Media Statement on developments at UCT with regards to the statue of Cecil John Rhodes

The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr B.E. Nzimande, welcomes the position taken by the students of the University of Cape Town in demanding the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes from prominence on the university campus. This initiative involving students of all racial groups at UCT has triggered a renewed debate on transformation at that university and at other universities. Perhaps the most notable example beyond UCT has been the recently ignited discussion on Rhodes' legacy at the university in Grahamstown that is named after him.

Minister also welcomes the statement by the Vice Chancellor, Dr Max Price, that the statue should be removed from its prominent position but not destroyed. It should be indoors, possibly in a museum. Cecil Rhodes played a significant - if brutal - role in our history and this must be remembered. History cannot be swept under the carpet, but this does not mean that we should celebrate its most dubious and anti-democratic characters who used their ill-gotten power to promote bigotry and the subjugation of Africa's indigenous people.

Rhodes accumulated a large fortune by exploiting South Africa's natural resources and its people. He supported and maintained a racially discriminatory political system in the Cape Province. He ensured through taxation policies that Africans were forced off the land to become suppliers of cheap labour in white-owned mines and farms.

In order to secure political control for Britain over the Transvaal goldfields, Rhodes was instrumental in provoking the Anglo Boer War in which tens of thousands of whites and blacks lost their lives, sustained severe injuries, or lost property. He propagated the vision of conquering African territory from the Cape to Cairo and played a direct role not only in the colonisation of South Africa, but also of present-day Botswana and Zimbabwe - with the latter named actually named after him.

Symbols such as statues are important as they help to signify values and power relations. However, it is important for higher education institutions to note that transformation goes far beyond this. It should include changing the demographic composition of staff and student bodies as well as ensuring that curriculum reflects South Africa's development and cultural needs.

It should reflect the history of its people, including all their languages, art, philosophical and religious beliefs, and their material and scientific development. It is also important to ensure that much of the scientific and technological education and research in universities is geared to overcoming the challenges faced by those that Rhodes, his cohorts and successors rode over roughshod and left to suffer in deprivation.

The challenges of transformation can only be overcome by providing quality education to all our students in schools, colleges and universities. Producing quality education and research is just as important as having appropriate symbols and changing demographics. Without this we cannot move forward as a country and cannot hope to overcome our many challenges.

But we should never accept the notion, implicitly or explicitly propagated by some, that increasing inclusivity (specifically expanding the proportion of black students and staff) at our best institutions will lead to a drop in quality. Such arguments only serve to defend privilege. In SA today, the job of good university leaders is to ensure that transformation and quality improvement go hand in hand.

We also need to learn further lessons from the current developments at UCT. It is important that progressive forces should mobilise and become agents for change in our universities and not only wait for government to do things for them. It can only be the partnership between government and progressive forces that can bring about the transformation we need in our universities.

I welcome the struggles initiated by the progressive forces at UCT and Rhodes to drive transformation in our institutions, but also appeal them to ensure that their actions always remain disciplined and peaceful.

Statement issued by Khaye Nkwanyana, Media Liaison Officer, Ministry of Higher Education and Training, March 20 2015

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