White solidarity groups in South Africa are protesting over the removal of a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes from the University of Cape Town. The monument of the controversial historical figure is set to removed today, after South Africa’s oldest university voted to ditch it following a month of protests against the statue. Members of the university council ordered that the bronze sculpture was removed, after hearing its presence made black students feel uncomfortable and was seen a symbol of historical white oppression . The defaced statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes is tied by straps to a crane before its removal at the University of Cape Town. It follows weeks of protests at the university over the symbolism of the statue . The monument has been vandalised in recent weeks. It has not yet been decided where it will be moved . The government has backed the move, and Sandile Memela, the spokesman for the arts and culture ministry, said they are working to see if the country can take an ‘official position’ on statues and other colonial symbols. ‘It marks a significant… shift where the country deals with its ugly past in a positive and constructive way’, he said to press agency AFP, adding the government did not encourage the violent removal of statues. But the decision to move the monument of Rhodes – a 19th century imperialist who critics say helped pave the way for apartheid – has sparked protests in itself. On Thursday morning, the youth wing of white Afrikaner solidarity group AfriForum handed a memorandum to parliament in Cape Town to ‘demand protection’ for their heritage. The same statue was covered in plastic bags after protests by students and staff at the university in March . The university's council heard that black students felt uncomfortable because of the bronze monument . Politician and businessman Cecil Rhodes is called a 'racist' by his opponents. Born in 1853, he made his fortune in diamond mines, and entered into politics as an outspoken supporter of colonialism. He later founded Rhodesia - modern-day Zimbabwe - which was named after him. He believed England was the 'master race', and wanted to draw a 'red line' railway from Cairo to Cape Town for the British Empire - spanning the entire continent of Africa. While his supporters say he brought political and physical infrastructure to South Africa, others say his actions laid the groundwork for apartheid by restricting the rights of black Africans to work. Source: BBC, Wikipedia . While they are not recognised as supporters of Rhodes, statues of their heroes have been attacked during the university protests. A monument of former president Paul Kruger was splattered with paint, and Afrikaner men, some of them in quasi-military outfits, demonstrated next to it on Wednesday. ‘The Afrikaner is -- from a historical perspective -- increasingly being portrayed as criminals and land thieves,’ solidary group Afriforum said in a statement. ‘If the heritage of the Afrikaner is not important to Government, our youth members will preserve our own heritage.’ It has not been decided where the statue of Rhodes will end up, although it will likely be held in a museum. But as tension grow on campuses about the statues of historical South African figures, Jonathan Jansen – the first black vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State – denied that there was a race war coming. Cecil Rhodes, pictured on the right, in 1896 in Rhodesia with an unknown companion and a black manservant . People look the defaced statue of former South African president Paul Kruger in Church Square, Pretoria . He wrote in South African newspaper The Times on Thursday: "The reason is simple: the overwhelming majority of South Africans, black and white, believe in a middle path somewhere between reconciliation and social justice.’
University of Cape Town voted to remove the statue from the campus.
Government backs decision as way of country dealing with its 'ugly past'
But white solidarity groups say their historical heroes are under attack.