MEMBERS of the EFF Student Command (EFFSC) at the University of Pretoria (UP) held a picket outside the university.
The demonstration took place on Tuesday, 26 September to protest against alleged racism and the disqualification of eight of their candidates in the recent Student Representative Council (SRC) elections.
The representative of EFFSC UP, Sihle Mdletshe, said they ran SRC elections and candidates were selected properly.
The protesters claim that the electoral chief officer unfairly disqualified the candidates for allegedly contravening campaign rules, particularly regarding the placement of campaign materials.
"He sent a directive on 4 September that all EFF-affiliated candidates must remove their posters which they did remove. They complied. We removed all posters on campuses," he said.
Mdletshe said the results stated that EFF won the 8 seats.
"After celebrating overnight after the results announcement, the next day we received an email that an official submitted a report to the Independent Monitoring Board to disqualify candidates," he said.
He said their picket relates to the racist act in which only members of EFFSC UP have been targeted.
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Mdletshe said they wanted their voices to be heard.
EFF in Tshwane deputy secretary Thabang Mathibela said they are tired of being treated like secondary people in institutions of higher learning like the University of Pretoria.
"We will fight until our candidates are back. We are exploring all means and we are fighting the matter legally," said Mathibela.
The UP's Public Relations and Events Manager Department of Institutional Advancement, Sashlin Girraj said the University can provide an update on the Student Representative Council (SRC) elections.
"We extend our thanks to the Independent Electoral Committee (IEC) and the Independent Monitoring Body (IMB) for their dedicated oversight of the process. Both the IMB and the IEC are chaired by independent professionals, and the IMB holds the exclusive authority to declare the elections as free and fair," he said.
Girraj said IMB has referred eight candidates to the disciplinary process for alleged contravention of the election rules and disciplinary processes have not yet been concluded.
"Any allegations against individual candidates will be addressed in accordance with the University's policies," he said.
He said in the interim, the current UP SRC will continue to fulfill its responsibilities until the end of its term in December 2023.
The new SRC’s terms will commence in 2024.
