Poo is appropriate choice of ammunition for Cecil Rhodes statue in South Africa
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Version 0 of 1. Your piece (Students celebrate as statue of Rhodes is taken down, 10 April) did not mention the surprisingly appropriate choice of ammunition hurled at the statue before it was removed. In 1885 Cecil Rhodes, “the notoriously racist mining magnate”, introduced the closed compound system to the Kimberley mine to prevent black miners from smuggling precious stones to illicit diamond buyers. This meant that, after the completion of their contracts, miners were forced to remain in the impenetrable compounds for a further two weeks while their excrement was examined. So Cecil’s statue’s baptism in black student faeces – known in Cape Town as the “poo protest” – has an element of the sweet smell of revenge.Ann HarriesChipping Norton, Oxfordshire • This article was amended on 16 April 2015. Because of an editing error, an earlier version placed Chipping Norton in Gloucestershire. |