Pasma to lead UWC, Walter Sisulu SRC

OF THE four student organisations which contested elections at UWC last week, the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (Pasma) won 11 of the 12 seats for the SRC.

South African Students Congress (Sasco) won a seat.

Pasma also won 10 out of 10 seats for the Central Housing Council (CHC).

As if winning in UWC was not good enough, Pasma also won in the Eastern Cape controlling the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in Queenstown campus that was previously led by Sasco and shared equal seats in the WSU East London campus.

UWC deputy vice-chancellor for Students Development and Support Pamela Dube said, preparations have already begun for the inauguration of both the SRC and CHC, which will be followed by an induction.

Dube said the office will co-ordinate an institutional process of making sure that the transitional phase is seamless and that the incoming SRC is adequately supported.

Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) spokesperson Kenneth Mokgatlhe said congratulations were in-order for Pasma for performing “political wonders”.

He said winning the elections augurs well for the mother body, the PAC.

“It is first and foremost inspiring and serves as a model for 2019 (general elections). It says to the PAC that it is possible to seize totality of power (in 2019).”

PAC Eastern Cape spokesperson Ndiyakholwa Ngqulu said the SRC results means students have confirmed that “Pasma must lead the struggle of free and quality education”.

Sasco provincial secretary Simphiwe Joja accepted the loss and attributed it to the organisation’s members saying they failed to campaign ahead of the elections.

“We did not lose because the opposition was strong, but we lost because we failed to campaign. We have our own selves to blame,” said Joja.

CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said, depending on the situation on the ground, the SRC members will be inaugurated this week.

She said the elections were “free and fair” and were monitored by staff from the university’s student affairs department.