Who Takes The Statue Of The British Colonel Cecil Rhodes?

The beheaded statue of Cecil Rhodes (Twitter / @ ThabaKoena)

JAKARTA - The head of the statue of British colonizer, Cecil Rhodes, was beheaded by an unknown person. The beheading of a 19th-century figure on the Slopes of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa, is allegedly a continuation of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Lauren Clayton, spokesperson for South African National Parks in Western Cape, said she only learned of the missing head after security guards went on regular patrols. They reported the possible beheading of the statue occurred either Sunday evening or Monday morning.

"It has been tampered with before several times. At this stage we are still not clear about the reasons behind the destruction," Clayton said.

Local authorities are still investigating who destroyed the statue. Of the number of people questioned, none claimed responsibility for the missing head of the Rhodes statue. What is clear, the figure of Rhodes is often associated with slavery in the diamond mining of South Africa, where Rhodes enriched himself.

Cecil Rhodes statue in cape town has been re-arranged, salute to the forces for the Lord's work. pic.twitter.com/ZwXVTZ2tqp

- Koena. (@ThabaKoena) July 14, 2020

Earlier, in 2015, South African outrage against Rhodes had forced the University of Cape Town to remove the statue of Rhodes from the campus grounds. Last month, students at Britain's Oxford University have also called for the removal of the statue of Rhodes.

The rallies in Bristol, where protesters tore down a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston inspired a protest for Rhodes in Oxford. All the anger over the figure of Rhodes again heated up after the death of George Floyd.

In recent weeks, thousands of people around the world have rallied. They demand the elimination of the racial system in many contexts of life.