When co-pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed the Germanwings plane, killing 149 people, “mental illness” was deployed as an explanation. If he wore a turban and had a beard, and if I were a betting man, I would put my money on the media labelling him a terrorist. Where would you put your money? Be honest. Have […]
Rhodes statue
Posted inNews/Politics
Waiting for the crap attack on Zuma’s statue
When the statue of President Jacob Zuma is eventually erected at the Union Buildings, carefully sited to avoid falling into the large shadow cast by that of Nelson Mandela, there will be joy and ululation throughout the land. For despite his manifest failings and a large bill still outstanding for home renovations, he is our […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Beware, the new statues
Dali Tambo’s struggle theme park self-proclaimed “the show business of history” will soon be an expensive blot on the landscape. But about such present-day bronzes our students have had, so far, little to say. Irrespective of the misgivings that some will have regarding Mr Tambo’s R600 million-R700 million boon most, one suspects, will have no fundamental objection […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Rhodes: Views from a black associate professor at UCT
By Caroline Ncube Amid the calls for radical transformation at the University of Cape Town (UCT), there are many voices seeking to be heard. That must be heard. I am compelled to speak too. I am a black African, non-South African, female associate professor at UCT. As a foreign national I make no bones about […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Give Rhodes to the artists
By Jordan Griffiths When I first heard of the #RhodesMustFall movement my response was simple, the statue must come down. For me it wasn’t even a question. I was privileged enough to have spent two years on the student council at the University of Pretoria (UP). I saw how aggressively transformation was fought at the […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Breaking out into the African institution: Rhodes University
By Nedine Moonsamy As a young postgraduate student I opted to study in India despite Darwinian warnings about the culture and academic institutions. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and rigour of Indian intellectual pursuits and soon became enamoured by the idiosyncrasies of their postcolonial academic culture. Unlike South Africa, Indian […]
Posted inEquality, Media, News/Politics
Revisiting the Rhodes statue
The recent announcement by the University of Cape Town (UCT) that the statue of Cecil John Rhodes would be taken down has, largely, been welcomed. Although I am opposed to this decision, I am alarmed by the attitude displayed by both sides during this debacle. I have swung between extremes depending on how offensive or […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Confronting our white ignorance in a time when #RhodesMustFall
By Roné McFarlane As the #RhodesMustFall debate continues, there are aspects of white reactions that need to be talked about … by white people. There is, however, a danger in discussing whiteness in the time of the #RhodesMustFall protests. You could rightly argue that it would be detracting from black struggles that are receiving more […]
Posted inEquality, General, Media, News/Politics
Removing Rhodes’ statue would not ‘erase the past’
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” writes George Santayana. In the midst of the argument that the #RhodesMustFall campaign is fuelled by a misguided desire to “erase the past”, it seems to me that it is ironically, but precisely, this argument that is hampered by a deeply short-sighted approach […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
If Rhodes goes, Jesus Christ must go
Here’s an inconsequential bit of South African literary history. The late poet Professor Stephen Watson used to have me over to his little house on Rouwkoop Road in Rondebosch just across the road from the railway line. This was in the mid-Eighties. With the occasional roar of a passing train in the background we often […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
10 useless responses to #RhodesMustFall
By Ntokozo Qwabe As the Rhodes Must Fall movement at the University of Cape Town (UCT) approaches its third week, I thought it necessary to put down the 10 most useless responses people have made to it thus far, and jot down useful counter-responses to them. These counter-responses are collated and developed from real responses […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
The battle for public memory: Why #RhodesMust(Not)Fall
By Marlyn Faure Don’t get me wrong I don’t think colonial symbols like the statue of Rhodes should be left uncontested. But blanket calls for the removal and sometimes the destruction of all colonial symbols could perhaps be working against the very issues being fought for: transformation, recognition, acknowledgment and justice. The protests at UCT […]