EFF, Pasma win most seats in initial results of SRC poll at UCT

THE EFF Student Command (EFFSC) has triumphed at UCT, initial results of the university’s SRC elections have shown.

The EFFSC has won six seats, the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (Pasma) five seats, the South African Students Congress (Sasco) with one seat, along with three independent candidates. Independent candidate Simone Cornelius received the most votes.

These candidates comprise the 15 expected to assume office as the newly-elected UCT SRC.

UCT spokesperson Kylie Hatton said official results were due to be released today to allow for objections and review and a number of internal processes before the SRC could be constituted.

In a statement, the EFFSC said these elections were the first that the group had candidates run under its banner as an official student formation at UCT.

“This is an excellent outcome since the EFFSC had eight candidates running.

‘‘The students’ command is still a young and emerging student voice at UCT and these results reflect that those who voted have faith in the command to fight for them on this campus,” EFFSC spokesperson Awonke Goso said,

“Understanding that the SRC invokes feelings of despair and disappointment among the marginalised peoples of this university, the EFFSC takes it upon itself and with other members of the SRC to change these feelings and instil a strong sense of servitude towards, and compassion for, all those involved in struggles at the university,” Goso said.

The EFFSC said it was comprised of members who were, and still are, involved in movements outside of what they have called “bureaucracy”.

It is now tasked, firstly, with the restoration of trust in official student governance at UCT and, secondly, the effective use of the composition and resources of the bureaucratic structure, as a means of eliminating the monopoly held by the executive and the council of the university with regard to decision-making which affects workers and marginalised students the most.

With the second most votes, Masixole Mlandu, of Pasma, who was one of five people involved in the #Shackville protest and successfully appealed a UCT costs order against the “Shackville Five”, said a key strategy would be to strengthen gains already made by student movements.

Mlandu said the incoming SRC aimed to consolidate different sections of the university society, and realising free decolonised education would be a key objective.