They stormed through the campus grabbing artworks and burning them. Most of the paintings they heaped on a bonfire were portraits of white historical figures. They were, declared one protester, “symbols of the coloniser”.Some of the art-burners might usefully have spent more time in the library studying South African history. Among the works they turned to ashes was a 1993 oil painting by a black anti-apartheid artist, Keresemose Richard Baholo. It was called “Extinguished Torch of Academic Freedom”, one of a series of paintings depicting protests at the university.