Mohamed Bin Hammam at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on March 18 2011.
The University of Cape Town Council has voted in favour of removing the Cecil John Rhodes statue and after much protest around the issue, social media users wasted no time to express their views and react to the decision
Chair of the Council, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, says the “Rhodes Must Fall” movement and the debates that started as a result of it forced them to make a decision.
“Although the Vice-Chancellor had announced a programme to review symbols and names in October last year, the depth and breadth of feelings on the issue unleashed by the student protest challenged us to accelerate the consideration of the Rhodes statue in particular.”
Ndungane says UCT has obtained a permit to remove the statue soon for its safe keeping. He says “The University management will partner with the students, different staff structures and the UCT community to review and refocus our transformation plans.”
The statue will be removed at 5:00 pm and on hearing the news, many social media users have started to celebrate while others have begun to ask questions about the decision, and how it will affect transformation moving forward.
Let’s take a look at some of the opinions on Twitter:
@Mambo_Jojo says the despite the statue being removed, there is still a long way to go ..