UCT SRC needs all the support it can get
THE new UCT academic year started yesterday, and after a rough ride over the past 18 months, the Student Representative Council (SRC) needs all the support it can get from the students and academics on campus.
As a UCT alumnus, I presented a motion to be tabled at the UCT Alumni AGM to be held in the Kramer Building on the Middle Campus next Wednesday at 5.30pm.
The SRC Assistance Fund has awarded grants to 89 students. Through their record fundraising efforts they raised R2.8 million. The SRC held close to 10 “one-on-one” meetings with individual students to assist them.
Furthermore, the SRC held campaigns on sexual harassment and assault, held student workshops, forums on transformation and decolonisation, and also re-engineered policies and practices throughout the department of student affairs. The current SRC has found itself serving an extended term of service due to the SRC elections being cancelled as a result of the adverse political climate of protests on campus. Some facts:
Of the 17 SRC members elected to serve from November 1, 2015, only six completed their year in office; four are still with the SRC in an extended term of office, with six co-opted members;
When the 2015 SRC was due to be constituted, its members were harassed and taunted for over an hour, and unable to take office for more than a month;
During their term the SRC members were also subjected to taunting, harassment and insults on social media;
On October 4, 2016, protesting students smashed the glass doors of the SRC offices in the Steve Biko Building, which were occupied for an extended period. SRC members had their property and office furniture vandalised and personal items stolen. Five months later, the SRC still does not have access to its original designated offices;
There have been 19 resignations from the SRC over the past year, including a number who felt they were not being supported by UCT and the department of student affairs, more specifically.
Motion: This is a motion in support of the SRC by the UCT Alumni, celebrating the positive impact they have had during very difficult times.
LAURENCE GAWRONSKY B Bus Sc (Hons) M Phil