Controversial public Facebook post made from Ntokozo Qwabe’s account — then privacy settings are changed
An Oxford Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) student has slammed his university’s decision not to get rid of a statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes.
The Facebook account of Ntokozo Qwabe (pictured above), who heads up a campaign calling for Rhodes’ statue to be removed from the front of Oxford University’s Oriel College, described the move as equating to a message to “fuck all black people”.
Despite being a beneficiary of the Rhodes Scholarship himself — covering all Qwabe’s university fees, plus living expenses in excess £13,500 a year — the outspoken law student has demanded over recent months that the late politician and business magnate’s statue be taken down due to his unacceptable views on race.
With senior figures at Oriel College revealing today that the statue will in remain in situ, Qwabe took to his personal Facebook account to attack the decision in a post that has since been made private. Before this happened Legal Cheek obtained a screenshot.
We have been unable to contact Qwabe to find out more information as his Facebook page appears to have been completely removed.
In a statement released by Oriel College yesterday, it was disclosed that staff had received over 500 written responses regarding the proposed removal of the Rhodes statue. The vast majority are apparently in support of the British imperialist remaining. The statement explained:
Following careful consideration, the College’s Governing Body has decided that the statue should remain in place, and that the College will seek to provide a clear historical context to explain why it is there.
It has also been widely reported that Oriel decided to keep the statute because it feared losing millions of pounds in donations from alumni if it was removed.
Qwabe’s journey to Oxford has been an impressive one. The South African completed his law degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he was forced to drop out after just one semester due to financial difficulties. Securing a job as a cashier, he raised enough funds to return to the university, completing his law degree ‘summa cum laude’ — the highest possible praise given — obtaining 34 distinctions.
Currently studying the prestigious BCL, it is not known whether he plans to practise as a lawyer upon graduation.
Previously:
Huge row breaks out over whether Oxford law student who wants Cecil Rhodes statue removed should have taken Rhodes scholarship cash [Legal Cheek]