by Staff Reporter | Aug 23, 2011 | News
Progressive Youth Alliance candidate, Feziwe Ndwanyana, has been excluded from participating in the 2012 Student Representative Council (SRC) elections taking place this week, on Monday-the eve of elections.
Ndwanyana was excluded because Wits management found her guilty of misconduct originating from the student protest against fee increments in 2009.
A meeting with the university registrar, the Wits legal office and Ndwanyana was held on Monday morning. After the meeting, Ndwanyana spoke to the campus radio station, Voice of Wits (VoW FM).
“It was really confusing for me and I asked them, why are you telling me this now? Because it seems like I am hand-picked. There are many other people who were charged with me and they don’t know what happened with their cases.
“So basically I was telling them it is very opportunistic for them, at this time, to say that I am disqualified from running for the elections.”
The PYA explained that Ndwanyana was informed of a hearing held in December 2010, at which she was to appear pertaining to the charge of misconduct by the university.
“She could not attend the hearing due to a cultural ceremony she was involved in at her home in the Eastern Cape. She explained this to management and the hearing was held without her being present.
When she asked about the hearing, she was told the proceedings could not be disclosed until the verdict was released,” said PYA Spokesperson, Godfrey Maja on Monday morning.
On Saturday, August 20 -the weekend before the start of elections- Ndwanyana was told of the outcome of her hearing and that she had been disqualified from participating in the SRC elections.
The PYA accused Wits management of racist, “evil tactics” saying the timing the delivery of their candidates’ guilty verdict was motivated to silence them. The party applied for an interdict to stop elections taking place this week, pending the outcome of an appeal lodged by Ndwanyana against the hearing outcome.
The statement released mentioned: “….We know we are the most outspoken when it comes to the worker’s oppression and racism at Wits! We are the most vocal on policies and decisions aimed at excluding poor (predominantly black) students from the university!
“For these reasons and many others, it’s clear that this exclusion of our candidate is politically- motivated and was orchestrated a long time ago. It’s a ploy by this arrogant and racist management that is longing for the years of Apartheid…”
The outcome of the interdict is yet to me released as Ndwanyana appeals the decision take by Wits management.
by Stephanie Hodes | Aug 19, 2011 | News
The SRC is hoping to raise R1 million for financially needy Wits students.
It will be hosting a Humanitarian Benefit Concert whereby all proceeds will go into a fund to help support academically deserving students.
“No student who is passing must be kicked out of the University because of his/her financial background,” said SRC president Morris Masutha.
The concert is to be held on Friday 27 August with featured performances by well-known artists such as Naves, Sphectacular and DJ Tumelo.
The SRC hopes that this event will encourage students to donate money in the spirit of ‘students helping their fellow students’.
“In the same manner in which we have declared war against academic exclusion, we have also declared a serious war against financial exclusion,” said Masutha.
The Humanitarian Benefit concert will be followed by an SRC Fundraising week.
“During this week, we’ll encourage students to donate whatever they can to the SRC Humanitarian fund,” said SRC treasurer Tshepo Ndlovu.
“For example, if 30 000 Wits students donate R10 to the Humanitarian fund, that will give us R300 000 into the humanitarian fund, which in turn can pay registration fees for 40 students,” he added.
The SRC is hoping to raise over R1 Million which it says will help “fight the financial/academic genocide on poor students”.
The Humanitarian Fund was established last year and according to Masutha aims to benefit students “who are left with outstanding fees at the end of the academic year”.
“Our main struggle is the struggle for a fully subsidized higher education for all academically deserving but financially needy students,” said Masutha.
“However, in every revolution there must be short term and long-term goals. We can’t just sit down and wait for government to provide free education; young people must not be fooled, education is the only guaranteed route to economic freedom in our lifetime,” he added.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 11, 2011 | News
The SRC circus took place this week.
THE Wits Student Representative Council (SRC) candidates held their electoral circus to deliver manifestos and campaign for votes this week.
The key issues raised this year were academic exclusions and economic inequalities on campus.
Candidates of the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), The Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (Daso), Cope Student Movement and one independent candidate, Tiisetso Murray, addressed students outside the Commerce Library on West Campus.
Murray noted that more students were walking past rather than being part of the electoral debate and that voting has declined over the past years.
“The problem [at Wits] is that … we are the playground for the political parties that are outside the university. We need to have people who represent the students at the top and who aren’t following an agenda of people from the outside; people who won’t be voting out their president because he doesn’t believe in Julius Malema,” Murray said.
The crowd seated outside the library broke out in applause and hands went up enthusiastically to pose questions to Murray.
Klaas Mokgomole , a2nd year law student, said: “ I am very sure that your are not at res and don’t know the conditions at res, secondly, I’m sure you are not using financial aid and don’t know how it is to be a financial aid student, that’s what I get from you. So, my question to you is, how are you going to function in the SRC because you will be alone in the committee, so how will you make change?”
Murray rebutted, “Res students are not the majority of students at Wits and if the SRC only represents res students then are they appropriately representative? The university is not made up of res students only, day scholars are also part of the university and they have needs too.”
The PYA emphasised the record-breaking success it had last year ,in which it held all 15 seats on the SRC, and in helping 67% of excluded students attain readmission into the university. The possibility of the students who return after exclusion being successful after readmission was questioned when the floor was opened for questions.
PYA candidate Kabelo Ramathesele’s response was, “We look at the reasons that caused a student to end up being excluded. Most of the students are excluded due to situations at home. We help them out of their compromising situations, whether it’s financial or someone has passed away. We find the counseling that is appropriate in those [areas]. We have a rate of students who have come back, passed, graduated and are successful today.”
Daso candidate Mohammed Sayanvala delivered their manifesto, saying it is driven by the DA’s vision for an open opportunity society for all, despite having heard people during campaigning on campus saying that the DA does not recognise the inequalities that exist among students on campus.
“As the Daso SRC, we would like to work with management and not against it. How far have protests gotten us with regards to issues like financial aid? On the issue of exclusions, having so many students excluded and then brought back into the university is a waste of resources. What we need to do is tackle the issue from the source, by finding out why students are being excluded, assist them to pass and provide the opportunities to them.”
Cope Student Movement candidate, Bandice Ngidi, was questioned on why he was a one-man show when his party has more than one candidate running for SRC elections.
Elections take place on August 23 and 24. Election circuses will continue on Main Campus next week.
by Stephanie Hodes | Aug 11, 2011 | News
The SRC has declared the next two weeks “Academic Exclusion Awareness Weeks”.
SRC president Morris Masutha has embarked on a number of lecture visits to students across campus to raise awareness about academic exclusion.
“Academic exclusion is another word for getting kicked out of the university for failing to meet faculty admission requirements,” said Masutha.
“Many students are not aware of this reality and as student representatives we believe that not bringing the dangers of academic exclusion to the attention of students would be a serious injustice.”
While academic exclusion affects all students, first years are the most affected by it.
“We also condemn financial students who lose their financial aid packages because they forget to sign their loan agreement forms. This behaviour is unacceptable and it has to come to an end. Students are the reason why there is an SRC and it’s important that they take advantage of the services rendered by this structure,” said Masutha.
The aim of this initiative is to help prevent students from becoming academically excluded by informing them in advance of the risks.
This year the SRC has raised funds totalling R700 000 to help students facing academic exclusion.
“Having participated in the council for readmission committee for three years, I have realised that there are a number of mistakes that students make throughout the year. In the absence of these mistakes, most Wits students would avoid getting academically excluded,” Masutha said.
This week the SRC visited the faculty of science and next week will visit JCE and medical school.
“The high level of university dropouts undermines our fight for a fully subsidised higher education and it is therefore the responsibility of students to justify this cause by fighting academic exclusion,” said Masutha.
by Stephanie Hodes | Aug 11, 2011 | News
After failing to secure any seats in last year’s election, the DA Students Organisation (Daso) has vowed to make a come back.
With 13 candidates put forward to run in this election, Daso chairperson Nazley Sharif says she is confident Daso will win seats on the 2012 SRC.
“Despite not having seats last year, we have continued to fight for student rights and fearlessly represent the interests of our students,” Sharif says.
“We are confident that more and more students see Daso as a vehicle to realise positive and constructive change on this campus.”
Daso’s fiercest competition will come from the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) who managed to secure all 15 seats in last year’s election. But Daso appears undeterred.
“The PYA represents the interests of a closed group of students and has displayed extreme political bias, particularly during the local government election campaign period,” says Sharif
“Daso has no doubt that, given the chance, we could reverse this trend and transform the SRC into the open, responsive and accountable forum it needs to be.”
Sharif says Daso’s manifesto will focus on issues directly related to students such as parking, security, services at res and transparency within management.
“Voters deserve to know the action plans and activities of those whom they have elected, thus Daso will strive for openness and accountability in all matters. We aim to bring the SRC closer to students and make it more responsive to students needs.”
by Stephanie Hodes | Jul 28, 2011 | News
The SRC has failed to remove its president Morris Masutha after three attempts to do so.
Citing lack of sufficient governance and leadership, the SRC passed a motion at the end of May to replace Masutha with his vice chair, Itumeleng Mafatshe. At a special meeting held on June 10, SRC members elected Mafatshe as president and Masutha as gender and transformation officer.
These elections were later deemed unconstitutional by the Wits legal office on the grounds that the SRC had failed to secure a two-thirds majority. This decision has been appealed by the SRC.
Meanwhile Masutha, who remains president, is adamant that the motion to have him removed was politically motivated by his refusal to support Julius Malema in the ANCYL elections.
“This has nothing to do with the competency of the SRC and everything to do with personal agendas against me by a few leaders within the ANCYL,” said Masutha.
“I made it clear that I did not support the re-election of President Malema, and I remain convinced that at no point do I view him as the champion of the poor. This was merely an attempt by the ANCYL to humiliate me, because whoever disagrees with Julius will be humiliated,” said Masutha.
Godfrey Maja, chairperson of the Wits ANCYL lashed out about Masutha’s relationship with Wits management. He also says Masutha insulted the branch by going against their organisational stance when he did not back Malema.
“He chose to disregard it, I allowed him the space to say whatever he wanted, but we knew the organization would have to take appropriate steps”.
The PYA sent out a letter announcing the removal of Masutha from their structures. The letter was signed by the heads of ANCYL, SASCO and Young Communist League. It read:
PYA DISOWNS this former comrade and distances itself from any conduct, speech or activity of whatever nature he engages in. He must never in any platform speak or act on behalf of PYA or any of its Constituents and we NO longer regard him as president of the SRC as per the uncontested resolution of general members.
Bongani Jacob, media and publicity officer for the SRC has refuted that the motion was politically motivated. “We are dealing with student issues not politics, this decision was based on his failures and inability to govern the SRC properly,” he said.
Jacob said the SRC was unhappy that Masutha had not delivered on his promises and hardly spent any time in his office.
“We respect his programmes and his efforts to raise funds for students, he is a very active member of the SRC, but as the head of governance he has failed,” said Jacob.
Masutha argues that the he has fulfilled his role as president and the reason for slow implementation of SRC objectives had to do with delayed budget approval by management.
Not all SRC members supported the motion. “The SRC constitution does not accommodate for reshuffling,” said SRC member Brendan von Essen.
“I think Morris has done a pretty good job so far and I didn’t think the reasons given by the SRC constituted such drastic action,” he added.
In the meantime the SRC continues to function. “We are being professional about this and doing our work. We are here to serve the students,” said Jacob.
Masutha said he put up a fight because he is concerned about the precedent this would set. “I didn’t want to give into this kind of bullying because it would mean that any SRC president after me would be passive, spineless, and would have to be very careful as to who he/she offends or differs with. I did it for the future presidents who don’t need to be yes men/women because they’re afraid to be recalled.”
by Staff Reporter | Jul 28, 2011 | News
THE Wits SRC has begun a campaign to provide assistance to the crisis in Somalia.
Fighting famine is a priority not only for the United Nations but also for the Wits SRC, as millions of Somali people face starvation.
A UN agency held an emergency meeting on Monday night to discuss ways to counteract famine in Somalia but Wits has also begun to take action.
SRC fundraising officer Wandile Sishange explains a campaign which they have initiated to assist the needy country:
“It’s based on a mission statement ‘we have to have an African perspective on the things we do’.
“What happens in Somalia affects the continent. [We must ask] what can the Wits community do to assist the situation?”
Last week, the UN confirmed that two regions in southern Somalia are in a state of famine. UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is asking for a donation of about $1-billion to aid the affected people.
Sishange explains how the SRC also plans to raise funds for the people of Somalia, who are currently seeking refuge on the other side of their border in Kenya. “[We are ]trying to appeal to those who can assist, from government to the private sector to students. Even if only 10 000 of the 28 000 students contribute R10 each [that’s something]. We really hope students in the Wits community will unite in doing this.”
Sishange also hopes to create awareness of the situation; he says he has been following the events in Somalia since he was in grade 8, when a man named Peter Hammond came to speak at his school.
Somalia has had no central government running the country since a civil war began in 1991.
“There has been political instability and there is no government in place, so after food and medicine are provided they also need political stability to sustain [themselves],” says Sishange.
“The people of Somalia should be able to find solutions for their own problems, all we can do is facilitate”.
The SRC is calling for students to contact them if they are willing to be a part of their committee to raise funds and possibly be sent there to help out.
