University of Pretoria’s Independent Monitoring Body (IMB) has referred the EFF SC SRC candidates to a disciplinary process for alleged contravention of election rules.
The university’s spokesperson Rikus Delport said on Thursday that the institution thanked all the students who had participated in the elections by selecting student representatives.
He also said the university noted the report by the IMB, which declared the elections free and fair.
“The IMB has referred eight candidates to the disciplinary process for alleged contravention of the election rules.
“These disciplinary processes have not yet been concluded. Any allegations against individual candidates will be addressed per the university’s policies,” said Delport.
The final election results will only be released after proper processes have been followed.
“We regret the delay but our goal is to ensure the democratic election of responsible student representatives who will effectively serve the interests of the student body.
“In the interim, the current UP SRC will continue to fulfil its responsibilities until the end of its term in December. The new SRC’s term will commence in 2024.”
Delport reiterated the institution’s commitment to upholding the principles of fairness, integrity, and democratic governance in all aspects of student representation.
Meanwhile, the EFF’s Student Command described the university’s decision to subject its candidates to the disciplinary hearing as nothing less than what they called a “racist act”.
Its student representatives have been staging a protest outside the university premises in Hatfield.
The student command accused the university of allowing racial division to persist, adding that, on August 6, a group of white students approached a gathering of black counterparts and made “monkey sounds and used the k-word, but the institution did nothing about it because it targets the students of colour.
“The university is complicit by allowing white students to mistreat black students. They are being discriminated against for purely exercising their constitutional right to run for office and to participate in the election process.”
The organisation said the situation had worsened since the EFF SRC candidates were singled out, claiming this was happening owing to the pressure from AfriForum Youth, which wrote a letter to the university on August 6 demanding that the EFFSC be deregistered as a student society and its SRC candidate be suspended.
AfriForum Youth said it was approached by students who felt unsafe when the EFFSC boisterously tried to campaign for votes outside ladies’ dormitories.
“EFFSC members drove up and down the streets even singing ‘Kill the Boer’ over loudspeakers,” said René van der Vyver, AfriForum Youth spokesperson.
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