‘The statue is a painful reminder of the past’: South African staff and students’ perspectives on MT Steyn statue removal

This study draws on qualitative research to explore students', academic, and support staff perspectives on the processes of the removal of the MT Steyn statue from the Bloemfontein Campus. The findings demonstrate that the majority of participants thought the Steyn statue brought back memories of the past. They associated it with apartheid. The results of this study indicate that the majority of participants believed the MT Steyn statue reopens old wounds, especially in black people's memories. They believed that keeping the monument in place would compel them to recall the horrific memories of the apartheid era. Some participants, though, did not feel impacted or see the statue as a reminder of the past. The study's findings lend more credence to the idea of moving the monument off the Bloemfontein Campus.