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S. African students storm UCT building in protest against apartheid legacy

Xinhua, March 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Dozens of protesting students stormed a building at the University of Cape Town (UCT) on Friday to press their demand for the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes, a symbol of apartheid legacy.

Students at the UCP, South Africa's highest ranked university, have been protesting on campus for days, urging UCT authorities to remove the statue of Rhodes as a catalyst for becoming a less "eurocentric" and more African institution.

The protesters demanded that the UCT give them a definitive date for the removal of the statue. But when their demand was not met, they stormed the Bremner building and vowed to stay overnight in protest.

Some South Africans, however, maintain that Rhodes is part of Cape Town history and there is no need to cause chaos over the past.

Last week, students threw a bucket of excrement over the statue.

Born in 1853, Rhodes went from Britain to South Africa, where he founded the De Beers diamond empire and later became premier of Cape Colony in 1890. He began the policy of enforced racial segregation in South Africa and allowed the newspapers he controlled to publish racist tracts.

Rhodes donated the land on which the UCT campus was built. The statue, unveiled in 1934, depicts him in a seated position and has been a source of discontent for years. Endi