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Cape Town – An unidentified group of people attempted to cut down the Cecil John Rhodes statue in Cape Town’s Company’s Garden on Wednesday.
DA ward councillor Dave Bryant confirmed on Twitter that the group tried to cut down the statue with an angle grinder.
According to 2oceansvibe, the incident occurred at 09:30 on Wednesday, and was stopped before the group could successfully remove the statue.
Three security guards told 2oceansvibe that they initially thought the group was there to do maintenance on the statue, as they were wearing construction clothes, but stopped them as soon as they jumped onto the statue and tried to cut it down.
IOL reports that the statue only sustained minor damage to one leg.
The statue of Cecil Rhodes was erected at Company’s Garden in 1908. It features a full body replica of Rhodes wearing a three-piece suit, standing with his left hand raised and pointing north.
The #RhodesMustFall protest movement from students of the University of Cape Town (UCT) for the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes gained massive headlines in March last year. UCT students campaigned for the removal of the statue, as Rhodes was seen as a symbol of racism and white supremacy. The statue was vandalised and was subsequently removed on April 9. – AFP
Online Reporter