Cecil Rhodes Statue, University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa
Cecil Rhodes was a British-born South African businessman, a mining magnate and a leading figure in the politics of southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. The bronze statue was sculpted by Marion Walgate and was unveiled at the University of Cape Town in 1934. At the time of his death in 1902, he was considered as one of the richest men in the world. However, he was a major promoter of Britain’s imperial interests and was considered racist by lots of indigenous people. His humanitarian endeavours and philanthropy notwithstanding, students and protesters all over South Africa protested the monument as a symbol of white oppression and after a UCT Council vote, the statue was removed ending the Rhodes Must Fall movement.
