{UAH} ‘End white privilege’ say students who defaced statue at UKZN

'End white privilege' say students who defaced statue at UKZN

  26 March 2015 9:52

The statue of King George V at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Picture: Facebook

Students at the University of Kwazulu-Natal have defaced another colonial statue.

The statue which depicts King George V at the foot of the Howard College Building has been covered in an angry splash of white paint and then wrapped in a blanket that reads, "end white privilege".

The statue's head has been topped with a knitted beanie in the colours of the Rastafarian movement.

The latest incident follows a protest at the University of Cape Town, where students threw faeces on a statue of Cecil John Rhodes earlier this month, demanding that the statue be removed from its prominent position at the university.

The Rhodes statue debate picked up steam when students at Rhodes University demanded that the university change its name.

The university's vice-chancellor, Sizwe Mabizela, said that the institution would not be changing its name, but the debate is gaining momentum.

The incidents have placed colonialism and transformation at South Africa's universities in the spotlight.

Students believe that Rhodes should go, but others say that removing the statue and changing the name would erase a part of history.

King George V was ruler of the British empire that colonised South Africa. He became king in 1910.

The Monarchy of South Africa had been created by the South Africa Act 1909 which united the four British colonies in southern Africa.

Durban's King George V Hospital was named after him.

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