A Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) candidate was apparently removed from the ballot list days before the SRC elections.
Dominic Khumalo, 4th year LLB, claims the Legal Office recommended his removal and the decision was made at a meeting between senior Wits management and the Dean of students on Friday August 17.
A notice outside polling stations warned students that voting for ‘candidate 5’ would spoil their ballot.
Earlier this year, Khumalo and fellow members of the Men’s Res house committee were suspended and temporarily evicted for misconduct, after they allegedly disrupted an inter-residence talent show during orientation week.
But Jabu Mashinini, chief electoral officer, said Khumalo withdrew his nomination, and has confirmed that she is in possession of a withdrawal letter from him.
“It was a personal choice. He decided to withdraw for personal reasons and we had to get permission from the VC because withdrawal for nomination had closed already,” she said.
Khumalo said he was not officially informed of the decision and went to confirm with deputy vice chancellor Yunus Ballim if the “rumour” was true. According to Khumalo, Ballim confirmed that he had been excluded.
Khumalo said he consulted with an advocate who advised him that a High Court interdict for the elections was his only form of redress. However, he did not get the interdict because it was expensive, and he did not want to seem power-hungry.
Khumalo said he had written a “very long letter” to the president and the Minister of Higher Education, and was waiting for a response.
Last year, Feziwe Ndwanyana , a PYA candidate, was excluded the day before the elections. She had been found guilty of misconduct during the student protest against fee increments in 2009.
Ballim and Prem Coopoo, dean of students, were approached for comment but had not yet responded at the time of going to print.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela 21st edition, 24th August 2012
A diverse audience gathered at the Wits Theatre on Thursday August 23 for the first TedxWitsUniversity event. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, and has grown to become a global non-profit organisation.
SRC election candidates squared off on campus radio debating one party rule, amongst other issues, just a week before students cast their votes.
Representatives from the incumbent Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), the Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) and two independent candidates participated in a live election debate on Voice of Wits’ current affairs show Breaking Ground on Wednesday night.
DASO said open debate is restricted if there are not multiple parties in the SRC.
SRC elections will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 21 and 22), with the PYA’s 15 candidates hoping to create a single party council for the third year in a row.
In minutes pinned on its notice board, the SRC lists as a concern “not being able to hold each other accountable on a proper platform”.
Erin Mc Luckie, DASO candidate, said the SRC would be more effective with management in solving students’ issues if it was more diverse.
“Currently, they are speaking about ‘PYA-led SRC’… it is easy to brush off one organisation,” she said.
Candidates in the debate pointed out the PYA is made up of diverse organisations, including the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) and the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) at Wits.
Earlier this month, the SRC negotiated for students who are neither able to afford the upfront registration fee nor qualify for financial aid, to be able to register for free for the first two weeks of term.
Despite this, Mc Luckie said there was “no doubt” the current SRC had done “good things” and independent candidate Welcome Lishivha said he gave credit where it was due.
The candidates also debated the SRC’s accessibility. Tiisetso Murray, an independent candidate, said the SRC’s “poor communication” prevented him from starting a club.
“It seems like the SRC forgot,” said Murray.
Pearl Pillay, PYA candidate, said the outgoing SRC, which had nearly 2000 followers on Twitter at the time of going to print, had been described as one of the best communicating councils students have had in years.
“If you tweet the SRC and you do not get a response in 10 minutes maximum, then either Vodacom or your network is down, or the SRC has crawled into some cave and I don’t see any caves at Wits,” she said.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela 20th edition, 17 August 2012
A recent spike in criminal activities in Braamfontein is spreading onto Wits’ main campus, according to Rob Kemp, head of Campus Control.
There have been at least 8 muggings at gunpoint in Braamfontein in the past few weeks, and 6 where dangerous weapons were used, according to statistics from the South African Police Service (SAPS).
On Tuesday, a female student was approached by two well-dressed male suspects near the Planetarium, who threatened her, apparently with a firearm, and took her cellphone.
Last month, WitsVuvuzela reported a robbery apparently at gunpoint, at the science stadium while in March, two students were robbed at gunpoint outside the Cullen Library.
Kemp, said his biggest concern is that students are not aware that they could be targets of crime.
He said he wanted the Wits community to be streetwise without panicking. Lost or stolen student cards are a common way through which criminals gain access onto campuses and residences. ICAM is able to put a 24-hour block on lost cards if they are reported, and students do not have to pay to unblock them when they are found.
Some suspects also stand around turnstiles, asking students to give them access. Kemp said some of them tell “nice stories” to convince students that they are entering campus for good.
“I left my card in res, I’m rushing for a lecture can you please help,” he said as an example.
Spot checks for student cards are being conducted at bus stops. Campus Control investigations manager Michael Mahada said this is not done to “oppress or harass students”.
There is a proposal to fence the area around the bus stops to restrict access to circuit buses. However, he said it could be “very restrictive, very controlling, and we’re [sic] not sure how it would go down with our population.”
Campus Control plans to fill vacancies within the next two weeks to increase the number of officers on patrol. It has also budgeted for more staff next year, and plans to commission an extra reaction vehicle.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela 20th edition, 17th August 2012.
Campus Control’s tips on staying safe
Avoid isolated areas on campus, including toilet facilities. A student was recently robbed on his way out of a bathroom in the John Moffatt building. Kemp also advised students not to use empty tutorial or lecture rooms to study, they should rather find one that is already occupied.
Do not leave your valuables unattended in public places for any reason, for any length of time. The stranger next to you in the library that you ask to look after your laptop does not have to.
Do not leave your residence room unlocked, even to go to the bathroom down the corridor.
Keep cellphones and other mobile devices out of sight when on the road.
Ask to be escorted to your room or car if you are leaving campus late, and feeling unsafe. Camus control is available to escort Wits staff and students to Wits residences and car parks, and can be contacted on (011) 717-4444. Students living in Braam are urged to ask Urban Genesys security guards (dressed in green and beige uniforms) for escorting.
A 26-year-old Johannesburg police officer was killed and another was shot in the eye during a routine stop-and-search operation in Hillbrow on Wednesday night
The officers had begun their 6pm shifts and were on patrol in the city when they noticed a suspicious car at the corner of King George and Wolmarans streets.
According to reports, the officers approached the car with its three occupants to search the vehicle. One of the occupants allegedly refused to cooperate with the officers’ requests, and acted aggressively.
“The constable tried to calm him down but one of the other two suspects pulled out a firearm and shot the member in his right eye,” said lieutenant-colonel Katleho Mogale.
The suspect fired a second shot at the other officer, fatally wounding him. The injured officer was rushed to hospital for treatment.
Constable Nkosinathi Mgimeti said at least two people were arrested for the possession of an unlicensed firearm in the Hillbrow cluster area between August 7 and August 13.
Mogale urged anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or SMS anonymously to the Crimeline 32211.
There has been no resolution to the dispute between Wits management and unions, and the Academic and Support Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU) has announced another one-day strike.
Last minute negotiations between management and the Academic and Support Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU), National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) and the Administration, Library and Technical Staff Association (ALTSA), to prevent the one-day strike on August 2 failed.
ASAWU members will also boycott admin meetings and performance management from August 20, in addition to the withdrawal of services on August 28.
In a meeting on Tuesday August 14, members were given ballots to vote for additional action, with an indefinite strike being one of their options.
The unions had demanded a signed agreement to their demands, but “chose to walk out of the mediation process before it was concluded”, according to vice chancellor Professor Loyiso Nongxa. ASAWU President David Dickinson denied this, saying Nongxa was not present at the negotiation sessions.
The unions are demanding a 9% salary increase for support staff and payment to academics at the 75th percentile of the tertiary education sector. They also demand the establishment of a childcare facility for Wits employees, an end to overselling of parking permits in non-designated parking areas and access by their auditors to the university’s financial system.
Academic and support staff picket outside the Yale Road entrance to Wits during their initial one-day strike. Photo: Jay Caboz.
Union decries silent treatment
Dickinson said they were met with silence after the strike.
“The first communication of any kind from management is the letter sent out today [August 13] by the vice chancellor to all Wits employees. This message fails to engage with the issues raised by the three unions and their members. It is a slap in the face of Wits lecturers and support staff.”
Nongxa said management did not have a mandate from the Wits council to grant the 9% increase, but proposed a shift from the July-to-June pay cycle to a January-to-December pay cycle. Staff could get a pay rise in January 2013 together with the increase received in July.
Nongxa said the proposals made by management were realistic and asked for “similarly constructive responses” from the unions.
“In the current context of declining state subsidies, the cost of higher-than-average salary increases may have to be carried by already heavily-burdened student fees.”
ASAWU seeking solidarity
ALTSA and NEHAWU are consulting with their members on further action. Dickinson said he hoped they joined ASAWU’s strike and boycotts.
During the previuos strike, Nongxa said the university could not be coerced into meeting the unions’ “unsustainable” demands.
“One would have assumed that, in an environment where we think about these things, that you can come with reasoned solutions to these problems, rather than resorting to a strike.”
Candidates outside the Wits Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) are hoping to avoid a third consecutive clean sweep for the party in this year’s Student Representative Council (SRC) elections.
Election campaigning was officially launched on Tuesday 7 August at a circus outside the Matrix. Less than 40 students braved the snow to listen to candidates from the PYA, the Democratic Alliance Student Organization (DASO) and independent candidates.
The Wits Congress of the People Student Movement (COPESM) did not nominate any candidates. Mukondeleli Mphigalale, chairperson of the Wits COPESM, said the party was dealing with internal structural issues, and would be back in SRC elections next year.
Voter turnout in last year’s elections was just over 16%.
Two suspects were chased down by Wits students and arrested by security guards after they tried to rob a female student in Braamfontein last weekend.
The suspects approached her with a knife on the corner of Bertha and Stiemens streets and stole her bag around 8:30pm last Saturday.
Matthews Bisse, 1st year BSc, was walking along De Korte Street with two friends when he heard a scream.
Listen to Bisse’s eyewitness account below.
Mboniseni Sikhwari, a security officer for a private security company, said the suspects approached him before he heard the call for “backup” on his radio.
One of the suspects was chased by a motorist along Jorissen Street, while Bisse and his friends intercepted the other outside Braamfontein Lofts.
The suspects were arrested by Urban Genesis security officers, who are contracted by Wits to patrol walking areas around the university.
A case was opened with Campus Control and the police.
Bisse said he was ahead of his friends as they chased the thieves.
“… what we’ve read on Vuvuzela that people are being mugged just gave me confidence when I saw that I wasn’t alone … there were a lot of us chasing that guy.”
Sikhwari said muggins are more common during university terms. He advised students to be more streetwise.
Listen to Sikhwari’s advice to students below.
Michael Mahada, Campus Control investigations manager, said Campus Control does not escort students to off-campus residences but has arranged with Urban Genesis security guards to do so.
Wits Vuvuzela was unable to reach the student.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela, 17th edition, 27 July 2012.
For the first time in the university’s history Wits academic and support staff unions have collectively embarked on industrial action against Wits management over salaries and a range of other grievances.
Union members marched through Braamfontein in colourful academic robes and with yellow cards giving a “final warning” to Wits management to bring a “meaningful” resolution to their demands.
“Seriously? That never happened in MY day! Times certainly are a-changin’!” was an alumna’s response to a tweet that it is not students who are protesting.
Wits management has seldom capitulated to the demands of protesters in the last few years, cementing the impression that it is unyielding.
As testament, the SRC and other student organisations celebrated a simple address by the Vice Chancellor during their hunger strike as “a victory” while the 17 Royal Mnandi dismissed chefs remained at home.
The unions have strongly suggested that Wits’ budget surplus, in excess of R100 million last year, should be dispensed in their fridges and savings accounts instead of the university’s capital projects and savings.
Wits however needs to guarantee its future as an institution and has argued that budget holders, including some union members, do not spend all the money they are allocated annually.
While Wits Vuvuzela acknowledges that the budget-deficit situation is more complex, it equally acknowledges that management has defaulted on its 10-year-old promise to pay academics at the 75th percentile, while investing heavily in its ambition to achieve top 100 status within the next 10 years.
The first protest was held on a freezing Friday afternoon last month, when around 150 staff members lined the entrance of the Senate House basement parking, heckling Council members as they drove in for a scheduled meeting.
Council chair Sakumzi Macozoma arrived in a R1.4-million Audi R8. He has other lucrative business interests but the contrast of his wealth with the demands of union members was notable.
Wits Vuvuzela believes that management should take decisive steps to show Wits staff their investment in this institution can earn them a mild semblance of Macozoma’s wealth. More importantly, they should not have to protest in the cold or threaten to strike to get their demands, even though these give us great stories.
Published in Vuvuzela, 16th edition, 20th July 2012.
Update: 30th July 2012
The retraction below was published in Vuvuzela, 17th edition, 27th July 2012:
Owing to confusion arising from last week’s editorial, WitsVuvuzela would like to clarify that Wits Council chair Mr Saki Macozoma does not receive a salary from Wits University.
Wits academic and support staff unions have planned a rally through Braamfontein on July 19 and a one-day strike next month over long-standing grievances with Wits management.
The three unions jointly declared a dispute after annual wage negotiations faltered last month. Management announced a 7.25% increase for academic staff (Grades 5-9). But the Administration, Library and Technical Staff Association (ALTSA) and the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) have demanded a 9%increase.
They received a certificate of dispute from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), which provides legal protection for protest and strike action.
The two unions, along with the Academic Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU), also made non-wage related demands in a memorandum to management, including a child care facility for Wits employees.
The unions began their protest action with a picket on Jorissen Street outside Senate House in June, coinciding with a scheduled meeting of the Wits Council. About 150 staff members lined the entrance of the basement parking in freezing weather, calling for support as Council officials and members of the public arrived.
Catherine Dryden, a librarian, told Vuvuzela that she has worked at Wits for over 20 years and earns less than R20,000.
“With my experience and my qualifications, I think it’s an absolute disgrace, and I think if I were a member of Council, I would hang my head in shame”, she said.
Deputy vice chancellor of finance and operations, Prof Patrick FitzGerald, said the university provides extensive information about its financial sustainability during negotiations. Last year, ASAWU’s proposed salary increase would have cost the university around R60m to implement.
“Enough is enough”.
According to the unions, this is the third year they have been in dispute with management. Advocate Liz Picarra, an executive committee member of ASAWU, said “enough is enough”.
“We care about this university, we are this university, and unless they start engaging with us, we are actually doing our students and the entire university community a disservice”, she said.
Nomasonto Baloyi, a data administrator at the Wits Arts Museum, said she has not moved to a job that could pay better because of the experience and benefits Wits offers.
ASAWU president David Dickinson asked Sakumzi Macozoma, Wits Council chair, for his views on the picket as he drove in. He responded, “I hope you’ve told them that we’re speaking to you, have you?”
Wits Council chair, Sakumzi Macozoma (left) in conversation with ASAWU president David Dickinson (right).
Wits Communications manager, Shirona Patel, said management may not respond directly to the memorandum, but will continue with talks until next week.
Since her announcement as the Democratic Alliance’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Helen Zille has dominated national headlines. In this bonus episode of We Should Be Writing podcast, hosts Lulah Mapiye and Bonolo Mokonoto dissect a media meet-and-greet with the mayoral hopeful. From her extensive political résumé to her controversial public utterance, we examine why the Democratic Alliance has chosen Hellen Zille as their candidate for the 2027 local mayoral elections. Additionally, […]
