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CAPE TOWN. — The statue of Cecil John Rhodes at UCT has been boarded up after three weeks of protest at the university, where students are calling for transformation and the statue to be removed from the campus grounds. 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 (RMF) campaign, proposed the statue be permanently removed from 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.

Student activist Chumani Maxwele, who initiated what has become a nationwide campaign to “decolonise” universities when he flung human excrement on the statue on March 9, said Friday’s vote was a victory for the students. “It came as a result of a narrative of student power, which has been reawakened. It was never going to be the willingness of the Senate; that statue has stood there for over 80 years. This is a victory for the students who have shown that there is power in unity.” Price said the Academics Union had also confirmed its support for the statue’s removal.

“The University Convocation will meet on Tuesday to express their view and Council will make the final decision at a specially called meeting on Wednesday.” Asked on Sunday how many times the University Council had gone against a decision voted for by the Senate in the past, and if the decision to board up the statue was ratified by the Council, UCT spokeswoman Pat Lucas replied: “It is important to note the independence of Council on all matters that come before it, and Council’s decision on the statue, as on any other matter, cannot be assumed to go one way or another.” — IOL.