Olive Schreiner: An Intellectual Forebear of the #RhodesMustFall Movement

South Africa's socio-political landscape is deeply etched with the scars of colonialism and apartheid, leaving behind symbols that continue to evoke heated debate and activism. One enduring figure in this narrative is Olive Schreiner, whose vehement denunciations of arch-imperialist Cecil John Rhodes resonate deeply with the modern #RhodesMustFall movement.

The year 2003 posthumously bestowed on Schreiner the Order of Ikhamanga in Gold, recognizing her unwavering dedication to human rights and democracy. Her legacy was revisited in 2020 by Jade Munslow Ong, suggesting that Schreiner could be considered an early proponent of #RhodesMustFall, a claim substantiated by her provocative literary and public opposition to Rhodes's exploits from the late 1890s.

Schreiner and Rhodes's stories intertwined dramatically during a pivotal era in South African history as she emerged as one of the staunchest critics of Rhodes's capitalist imperial ambitions. Her interactions with prominent black thinkers and leaders further informed her criticisms, notably following Rhodes’s endorsement of the dehumanizing "Strop Bill."

Her allegorical novel, "Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland," was a formidable attack on Rhodes's ruthless colonial practice, aligning her with global critics of the time, including John Tengo Jabavu and American intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois. It also positioned Schreiner within a historical dialogue surrounding colonial resistance that predates and presages the sentiments driving #RhodesMustFall.

A notable moment in the #RhodesMustFall movement occurred in 2015 when activist Chumani Maxwele symbolically threw excrement at the Rhodes statue at the University of Cape Town. This act underscored the alienation and disenfranchisement felt by many black South Africans, with the statue serving as an intolerable symbol of a devastating past. It harked back to Schreiner's complaint about "something in our society" that fed the matrix nourishing figures like Rhodes.

The activism of #RhodesMustFall did not merely call for the removal of statues; it used creative expression, mirroring Schreiner’s own literary activism. Artist Sethembile Msezane's performance piece during the removal of the Rhodes statue at UCT is one such powerful example, reclaiming and restoring the historical narrative through art.

Rhodes's legacy is not just a statue or a name etched in history books but a complex web of systemic oppression and its material consequences. The #RhodesMustFall movement is one of many continuing Schreiner’s legacy that insists on deconstructing the structures of power and privilege, echoing across time the imperative for a society that honors all its members.

As #RhodesMustFall grew, it fostered solidarity with movements such as #BlackLivesMatter, reflecting a global tapestry of resistance against institutional colonialism. In essence, those challenging exclusionary structures today are the intellectual descendants of Schreiner – collectively envisioning and fighting for a more inclusive and equitable world.