UCT protest a burning issue on Twitter

17 February 2016 - 11:50 By TMG Digital

Opinion on social media was divided after a Rhodes Must Fall (RMF) protest at the University of Cape Town (UCT) turned violent on Tuesday night. UCT issued a statement describing the behaviour of RMF members as “criminal and has exceeded all possible limits of lawful protest action” after they “entered Smuts Hall‚ Fuller Hall and Jameson Hall‚ removing artwork from the walls and burning it”.“They are traumatising wardens and students and vandalising. Several bins have been set alight‚” a statement claimed.This followed the university handing protesters a letter in the day “to ask them to move the shack that they had erected to another location nearby so as to ensure that the traffic flow‚ movement of students and staff can function uninterrupted”.Police reportedly used stun grenades to quell protests and at least eights students were say to have been detained overnight.The issue trended on Twitter on Wednesday morning under the #Shackville.Palesa Rose Nqambaza ‏@RoseNqambaza suggested the protest was overdue:Piss people off long enough and they will rise. These are birthpains #Shackville#RhodeMustFall#FeesMustFall— Palesa Rose Nqambaza (@RoseNqambaza) February 17, 2016async while silvamanni ‏@TozeFortune said there was still some way to go and urged: “You are fighting for a just course‚ something will have to give‚ just keep pressing the right buttons and don't settle for less #Shackville”.Nosipho Khulu ‏@NosiphoKhulu seemed to direct her anger at the country’s executive:children are hungry you open a commission of inquiry to determine how hungry your bloated cabinet is well fed #Shackville#FreeEducationNow— Nosipho Khulu (@NosiphoKhulu) February 17, 2016async and REGISTER2VOTE4EFF ‏@keithodwa‚ in his ire‚ roped in the Democritic Alliance: “UCT wants to relocate #shackville to pretend it doesn't exist just like @Our_DA likes to pretend shacks don't exist in Khaltsha smh whites!”The support‚ however‚ seemed to be outweighed by those expressing their disgust at the destruction the protesters had caused.#NukesMustFall ‏@NoTolls1 retweeted a pic of artworks on fire and asked: “Facsits book burning next? ‘@GroundUp_News: Rhodes MF protesters destroy art- #Shackville http://groundup.org.za/article/rhodes …’ ”Felicia ‏@Felicia_Mok painted a similar picture:@Felicia_Mok Destroying statues, burning art. As an art lover I can't understand this which brings me back to The Monuments Men #shackville— Felicia (@Felicia_Mok) February 17, 2016, async referencing the film about a group of Allied soldiers tasked with rescuing artworks being plundered by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.ZARTsar ‏@ZarZarWabenzi weighed in with: “Art is the root culture of any nation that invests faithfully in education. Without art in all its forms‚ a nation is barbaric. #shackville”.MarcTayl0r ‏@MarcTayl0r attacked the protesters themselves‚ sayingBlack students in SA are confused! Burning the roots of education while they use smart phones to document their frustrations? #shackville— MarcTayl0r (@MarcTayl0r) February 17, 2016async ‚ while LeeP ‏@LeeP247 had this barb: “The #Shackville bunch think they're revolutionaries. They're hooligans‚ downgrading the institution and the hard earned degrees of alumni”.Aspiring Blesser ‏@DMable_G‚ however‚ wasn’t accepting any of the criticism: “The students @ UCT are on a path to decolonize‚ U as the colonizer cannot dictate how they should react. #Shackville”...

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