A Visit to Rhodes Memorial

Rhodes Memorial stands on the southeastern slope of Devil’s Peak, a glinting white comemmoration of the life and work of a man who had much to do with how southern Africa is shaped today.

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Of course, he must take as much blame for the ravages of colonialism as credit for the development of South Africa – through the gold and diamond mines which he controlled – into a leading continental economy, but the memorial, naturally, accentuates the positive!Rhodes was a colossus of capitalism – he wrote the first million-pound check, in the late 1890s – and a major agent of British imperialism, who worked to make Africa a British colony in its entirety, from the Cape to Cairo.

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When he died – very young, of heartbreak born of unrequited love for a young man, it is said – he gave a substantial portion of his landholdings to the University of Cape Town (just a bit further down the slopes from the monument).

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Today, the massive granite structure, with its bronze lions, charging horseman and ungrammatical Rudyard Kipling epitaph, is useful for three things: (1) it’s a major make-out spot for university students; (2) it’s a good place to go for views of the Cape Flats; and (3) it’s the perfect launching point for walking expeditions up Devil’s Peak – there are several well-worn paths – and the perfect recuperation point after such a walk – it has an adjacent tea house which serves delicious scones and light meals.

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