From Dr Max Price: Progress in discussing the Rhodes statue
Dear colleagues and students
I am writing to update you on the process relating to the Rhodes statue and also to urge you again to participate in the upcoming University of Cape Town assembly planned for tomorrow, 25 March 2015, and to engage on other forums (such as [email protected]) where you can make known your views not only on the statue, but also larger transformation matters.
As you know, last week we announced a process of engagement on the matter of the Rhodes statue that would allow for debate and discussion involving all constituents at UCT, and that would culminate in a proposal by the Executive to Council on 15 April 2015.
Before I report on the progress with regards to this, I need to say that it has come to my attention that some of the commentary written on the "Have Your Say" notice boards placed next to the Rhodes statue amounts to racist hate speech. This is totally unacceptable and I condemn this in the strongest possible terms. We recognise how this aggravates the pain and hurt experienced by the targets of such insults and it certainly bedevils genuine debate.
If we can identify the writers we will certainly take disciplinary action. Because we cannot monitor the boards at all times, and to avoid the offence caused by such anonymous posts under UCT's auspices, we have now removed the boards. The first four boards were well used, with many interesting and constructive comments. These are on display in the Molly Blackburn Memorial Hall.