Why UFH students chose Daso
Sasco leaders ‘didn’t have our interests at heart’
IT WAS not only Daso’s intense campaigning that saw the organisation claim a historic victory at the University of Fort Hare.
A failure by the incumbent South African Students Congress (Sasco) to care more about student problems while Daso leaders made themselves more available was the difference.
This was said by students who spoke to the Saturday Dispatch this week on why they decided to vote for Daso.
Most said a key factor in the elections was Daso’s willingness to “lend a helping hand”, which saw the organisation take the historic academic institution from the ANC-aligned Sasco.
More than 15 students spoken to said they decided to vote out Sasco because it had become “complacent” and “out of touch” with critical issues affecting students.
They claimed Sasco leaders were living an extravagant life while some students went to bed with no food as meal allowances were not paid on time.
Third-year African literature student Pumelele Lavisa said: “I am glad the rest of students caught up with Sasco’s incompetence. I am actually glad other students finally saw this failure that was there for a long time.
“The change in students’ hearts started at the beginning of the year when we were engulfed by many challenges such as lack of residences, financial exclusions and students going to bed hungry.
“Daso leaders at the time were hands on and were everywhere assisting students overcome such challenges. This was while the leadership of Sasco-led SRC were nowhere to be seen.”
A Bachelor of Education student Anele Stoyi said one reason he voted for Daso was because leadership had “showed compassion and character” during a difficult start to the year.
“They made sure each and every student who had issues with registration had their personal phone numbers.
“They were within reach to all and did not discriminate,” Stoyi said.
Neliswa Mkaliphi, a third-year library information student who had voted Sasco since 2012, said “poor service delivery” by the congress prompted her to vote for change.
Sasco’s Sithenkosi Lungisa however said Daso would also experience the challenges they had faced because of dwindling financial support from government.
Lungisa said the R99-million allocated to the university through NSFAS was R18-million less than the previous allocation while student numbers had increased from 11 000 to more than 13 000 this academic year. — asandan@dispatch.co.za