While South Africa’s apartheid officially ended in 1994, it is still one of the countries with the most inequality in the world, with most of the nation’s wealth in the hands of white settlers. The truth and reconciliation commission that happened in South Africa was not able to address the material reasons for why there exists such inequality, and many of the country’s institutions reflect that reality.
In 2015, students began a campaign to remove the statue of Cecil B. Rhodes, from their campus. Rhodes was a british imperialist who led the charge for the colonization of southern Africa which included Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe. This became a catalyst for a student-led decolonial struggle for free education.
We spoke with Alex Holz, who was involved in the Rhodes Must Fall student movement, about South Africa today, the beginning of the movement, the Rainbow Nation mythology, and a whole lot more.