Pretoria – Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has welcomed the statement by the University of Cape Town Vice Chancellor, Dr Max Price, on the statue of Cecil John Rhodes.
Price said 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,” Minister Nzimande said on Thursday.
He also commended the position taken by the students of UCT in demanding the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes from the university campus.
Minister Nzimande said this initiative involving students of all racial groups at the university has triggered a renewed debate on transformation at that university and other universities.
“Perhaps the most notable example beyond UCT has been the recently ignited discussion on Rhodes’s legacy at the university in Grahamstown that is named after him,” Minister Nzimande said on Thursday.
He emphasised that 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, the Minister said.
“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.
“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,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
