Fourteen Oxford academics have slammed the university's vice-chancellor after she claimed Nelson Mandela would not have wanted colonialist Cecil Rhodes' statue to be taken down. Mr Mandela joined forces in 2003 with the Rhodes Trust - the charity set up by Cecil Rhodes' widow to fund educational scholarships - to form the Mandela Rhodes Foundation to help build a 'better future' for disadvantaged Africans. Rhodes Must Fall: A timeline of events March 2015: Students at University of Cape Town begin protest to remove statue. January 2016: Vote held by Oxford students in Oxford Union, not affiliate to Oxford University, vote to remove the statue. As the statue row intensified last week, Oxford University's Chancellor, Lord Patten, accused protesters of 'hypocrisy', stating that a scholarship created by Rhodes had benefitted hundreds of scholars, with a fifth coming from Africa.

Source: Daily Mail June 17, 2020 00:24 UTC