Statue booted off Free State campus to promote diversity

The family of former Orange Free State president Marthinus Theunis Steyn were among those consulted before the University of the Free State decided to relocate his statue off campus, the university says.

Debate around the statue’s removal has been ongoing for 15 years.

UFS rector and vice-chancellor Prof Francis Petersen said the relocation would best serve the university’s vision for the future.

“This includes ensuring that the UFS is a place where everyone feels welcome, where diversity is encouraged and celebrated, where concepts such as decolonialisation are challenged in an academic and realistic way, and where integration is accomplished in a holistic manner."

The decision of the university council follows a recommendation made by the Special Task Team in a report to Petersen.

The statue has been in front of the Main Building on the Bloemfontein campus. 

Keeping the statue in its current position – elevated and central, in front of the building that houses the university’s executive management – does not align with the core principles of inclusivity and diversity, the rector said.

“In fact, a large proportion of our student body is feeling unwelcome (at least in the specific space in front of the Main Building), as it represents a period in history that they do not feel part of,” Prof Petersen added.

Supplementing the statue with historically significant figures from other communities is impractical, costly and can become a minefield of controversy about who to include, who to leave out and what physical form this representation should take, the university decided.

“A comprehensive approach and coherent process will be implemented to reconceptualise the space in front of the Main Building. Members of the Special Task Team will form part of the reconfiguration process,” said Prof Petersen.

Marthinus Theunis Steyn was born in 1857 at Rietfontein in the then Orange Free State. He died in 1916 in Bloemfontein. He was the leader of the Orange Free State during the South African War (1899-1902).