The statue's removal is the culmination of a month-long campaign
South Africa's University of Cape Town (UCT) has removed a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes that had become the focus of protests.
The monument, taken down in front of cheering protesters, will be stored for "safe keeping", UCT's council said.
Students have been campaigning for the removal of the statue of the 19th Century figure, unveiled in 1934.
Other monuments to colonial-era leaders have also been the target of protest.
The BBC's Mohammed Allie told Focus On Africa radio that there was a "festive atmosphere" as students, members of political parties and ordinary Cape Town residents came to witness a "historic moment for South Africa".
The crowd cheered as the statue was being lifted of its plinth and once it was removed some students jumped on it and started hitting it with wooden sticks and covering the face with plastic.
The decision to remove the statue was taken after consultations with students and staff
The "Rhodes Must Fall" campaign began in March after activist Chumani Maxwele smeared excrement on the statue as a protest against Rhodes' racism and its legacy at UCT.
The protesters said that the statue had "great symbolic power" which glorified someone "who exploited black labour and stole land from indigenous people".
The campaign led to the university's 30-member council voting on Wednesday for the statue's removal.
It defended the decision saying it had canvassed the views of students, academic staff, alumni and the public before making its decision.
"This is exactly how a university should work and we believe is an example to the country in dealing with heritage issues," it added.
Backlash
The campaign has triggered attacks on other statues around the country seen as representing South Africa's racist past.
Green paint was thrown on the statue of Paul Kruger, who is revered by Afrikaners
But it has also led to a backlash with some white South Africans rallying to protect the statues of the 19th Century president Paul Kruger in the capital Pretoria, and 17th Century colonialist Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town.
Kruger, a contemporary of Rhodes, was an Afrikaner leader known for his opposition to the British in South Africa. Van Riebeeck was a Dutch coloniser who arrived in South Africa on 5 April 1652.
The campaign to remove the statue began after an activist smeared excrement on it
"Symbols aren't inanimate objects, they are powerful devices that must be removed if they pay homage to a dark and oppressive past," says the Mail & Guardian.
But writing in the News24 website, Vusi Kweyama warns against "erasing" history: "We must teach our children how to remember in a way that is empowering and educational."
The Daily Maverick highlights the need for more reforms. "The specific legacies of Rhodes and Kruger are largely meaningless… the statues are a symbol of all that remains to be done, of real transformation," says the paper's op-ed.
The Citizen is less optimistic, suggesting the "race war" in South African universities shows that "our academics are not succeeding at their most fundamental task: producing critical but tolerant graduates".
South Africa's leftwing Economic Freedom Fighters party has backed the campaign to remove the statues.
Government officials have condemned the attacks on statues, and say a decision on their future will be taken only after consulting all groups.
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