by Riante Naidoo | Mar 13, 2015 | News
UPDATE: ASC Election results announced
Kerosha Reddy
Nelisa Metula
Buhle Mayatula
Aseza Matanzima
Sewela Makgolane
Sphindile Gumede
Regis Majawa
The Accounting School Council student elections were held today on Wits West campus. The candidates are hopeful for increased student support and intend to continue building a stronger relationship between the students, the new council and lecturers.
Students at the School of Accountancy casting their vote for the Accounting Student Council Photo: Riante Naidoo
Seventeen students are standing in the Wits Accounting Student Council elections which started earlier this week at Wits West campus.
There are 11 positions available on the Council and candidates are hoping a spot on the structure will help to increase cohesion between staff and students in the school.
Phiwe Fongoqa and Sewela Makgolane, both 2nd year BComAcc, students are standing as members of a group called “The Connect”. “The Connect is a group of 10 individuals who share the same vision and goals for the ASC,” Fongoqa said.
Makgolane said she encouraged students to vote to create the platform for change that a new council will offer. “We want to diminish the gaps between the different levels in the school,” she said.
“There is a huge gap between the students, the ASC and the lecturers,” he said, “We want to form one tight bond and work as one school,” Fongoqa said.
“The ASC are here to make sure students have the right support structures, influences and networks for when they leave,” Fongoqa said, “provided we get the student support, we can make a change”.
One of the individual candidates, Nilendri Naicker, 2nd year BAccSci, is hoping to secure the position of chair or vice-chair of the Council. Despite running against a large group like The Connect, Naicker feels she has a good chance of success but expressed disappointed at the low voter turnout.
The election process began on Tuesday, and culminated in voting this afternoon. It is still unclear when the final results will be made public.
by Roxanne Joseph | Sep 4, 2014 | News
I AM SRC: The SRC for 2014/2015 are made up of candidates from the Progressive Youth Alliance and Project W. No one candidates were elected from the Wits Economic Freedom Fighters. Photo: Tendai Dube
CORRECTION: The article initially and incorrectly stated that 31 000 votes had been cast during SRC elections, when only 7024 valid ballots were cast. 31 905 is the total voters roll, or number of students eligible to vote. Wits Vuvuzela regrets the error which has been corrected below.
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Two weeks of Student Representative Council (SRC) electoral campaigning ended on Thursday with the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) edging out Project W, nine seats to six.
Current SRC member, Jamie Mighti, who was running for re-election to the SRC, received the most votes, with 2 929 out of the total 7024 valid votes being cast.
“I’m very happy,” he told Wits Vuvuzela.
Political newcomers Wits Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were completely shut out, with their members sitting at rock bottom on the candidate list. Despite this, they continued to sing and dance outside the Great Hall, after election results had been announced by dean of students Dr Pamela Dube, earlier today. They were joined by a mass of PYA supporters, kitted out in their yellow and black t-shirts.
Current SRC president and PYA member Shafee Verachia called Witsies “intelligent” for not voting for the EFF. “There was obviously stuff in the party’s manifesto that they clearly don’t like,” he said.
EFF candidate, Anele Nzimande said the party was “different” from the other organisations and said they would be continue to be active outside of the SRC. “Even though we didn’t win, we will still continue to work from the outside with the students,” Nzimande said.
Also notably absent from the winner’s row was PYA candidate Michlene Mongae, who is a member of the current SRC and was campaigning for re-election.
PYA candidate Mcebo Dlamini put the PYA’s win down to “loyalty”, saying that students voted for what they know.
7 192 students voted out of the approximately 30 000 at Wits, amounting to only 23% of the student population.
The SRC president will be announced later this month and will most likely be someone from the PYA, as they had the most candidates elected onto the SRC.
Mighti said that while Project W had hoped to be the dominant party, they were committed to working in partnership with the PYA.
The new SRC will take office on November 1 this year.
The SRC, in order of the number of votes received are as follows:
Jamie Mighti (Project W) – 2929 votes
Thamsanqa Pooe (Project W)- 2894 votes
Blaise Koetsie (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2812 votes
Senzekahle Mbokazi (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2789 votes
Mthuthuzel Mahlangu (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2715 votes
Mcebo Dlamini (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2606 votes
Shaeera Kalla (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2584 votes
Fasiha Hassan (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2554 votes
Gwinyai Dube (Project W)- 2417 votes
Omhle Ntshingila (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2349 votes
Kabelo Murray (Project W)- 2317 votes
Waseem Talia (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2308 votes
Amogelang Manganyi (Progressive Youth Alliance)- 2307 votes
Tanya Otto (Project W)- 2287 votes
Enhle Khumalo (Project W)- 2279 votes
by Jay Caboz | Aug 24, 2012 | News
A student casts his vote during the voting period for the SRC elections this week. Voting hours were extended to allow for more students to cast their ballot for their candidates of choice. Students who voted were impressed by the campaigning of the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) and the Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO).Campaigning tactics included posters, SMSs, door to door canvasing and other tactics.
Follow these links for more on the SRC elections
Akinoluwa Oyedele – Candidate claims election exclusion
A Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) candidate was apparently removed from the ballot list days before the SRC elections.
Zinhle Tshabalala – Witsies are indifferent about SRC elections
Less than 20% of Witsies generally vote in the SRC elections – and this week’s election is not expected to draw more than 23%, according to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
