University of Cape Town voted for removal of the statue of British colonialist, Cecil Rhodes

The University of Cape Town (UCT) of South Africa on 8 April 2015 voted to remove a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes from the campus. The statue had become a focus of student protests.

The decision of removal of the monument was taken by the UCT’s Council, the institutions highest decision-making body. It announced that the monument will be taken down from the campus on 9 April 2015 and stored for safe keeping.  

The decision of Council follows weeks of protest and debate over the statue. The matter was known as the Rhodes Must Fall debate.

The 19th century figure unveiled in 1934 was a matter of campaigning for students. The students at UCT have been campaigning for removal of the statue. Other monuments to colonial-era leaders have also been recently vandalised.

About Cecil Rhodes
Cecil Rhodes born in July 1853 was a British colonialist, businessman, mining magnate and politician in southern Africa, who founded Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) which was named after him in 1895. Rhodes University is also named after him. He died on 26 March 1902.