Perdeby Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks
year76issue05 Green Week edition
24February2014
UP aims to go green the fun way
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Spec-Savers Hatfield Shop 29, Hatfield plaza Burnette Street Hatfield 0123622887
Dying to bring your imagination to life
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MK Awards
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AmaTuks end three match losing streak
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Alleged racist attack at University of the Free State MOLEBOGENG MANGOALE Two students from the University of the Free State (UFS) appeared in court last week after assaulting another student in an apparent racist attack. Charl Blom and Cobus Muller were released on a warning at the Bloemfontein Magistrate court, Times Live reported. They were charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and reckless and negligent driving. According to Times Live, Dumane Gwebu, a fifth-year economics student, was admitted to hospital last week Monday after he was attacked on his way home from campus. It is reported that the perpetrators ran over Gwebu in a bakkie and when he confronted them later on, they assaulted him. The assailants had allegedly tried to drive over three female students before they hit Gwebu. The accused allegedly continued to call him a “k****r”. “It is clear that I am penalised for being black. Their intention was to kill ... now they are out,” Gwebu told reporters outside court. He said that at UFS being called a k****r is common. Gwebu continued to say that he did not understand why Muller and Blom attacked him. He criticised the justice system for releasing the pair on a warning. “Messages like this mean that students will continue to live in universities surrounded by racism,” he said. The vice-chancellor of UFS, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, told the media that that the motive for the attack may very well be racist but that they do not know this for sure yet. “It is so sad and disappointing that, after so much progress with the social transformation of the university, such a horrific incident could have occurred,” Prof. Jansen told Times Live. He added that, if found guilty, in the criminal investigations against them, the two students would not be permitted to continue to study at the university. However, it is reported that students at UFS are not surprised by the attack. They maintain that for the past two weeks there
The University of Free State’s Main Building. Image: panoramio.com
have been isolated incidents of racism at the university and that management has been sweeping them under the carpet. The UFS SRC has demanded action within 14 days. Phiwe Mathe, the SRC president of UFS, told Eusebius McKaiser on Power FM that they will march to the vice-chancellor’s office
this week to submit a memorandum demanding that the matter be dealt with effectively. “Not much has been done and the non-racism project hasn’t been achieved. The university took two days to respond to this incident,” he said. Muller and Blom are set to appear in court again in April.
First quarterly sitting of the Student Forum
SRC President Enwee Human addressing the Student Forum. Photo: Brad Donald
DAN MAFORA AND FUMI SOKO The first Student Forum meeting was held last week Wednesday. The forum is a replacement of the Student Parliament, to which the SRC was previously accountable to. The forum consists of the SRC as well as the heads of faculty houses, societies, and residence and day house HKs. Emile Zitske, the chief justice of the Constitutional Tribunal (formerly
known as the student court), presided over the forum. Dr Matete Madiba, the director of Student Affairs, and Dr Willem Jorissen, the deputy director of Student Affairs, also attended the meeting. SRC President Enwee Human listed the SRC’s strategic objectives for 2014. He said that the SRC’s vision for 2014 is to implement “world class student leadership in achieving transformation and sustainable student success”.
As part of its goals for the year, the SRC aims to enhance student life, including enhancing student life for students with special needs. The SRC also aims to increase financial opportunities for students and is investigating a proposed work for study programme. This programme has been proposed as a solution for students who are unable to pay their tuition fees. In return for working for the university, students would have money taken off their tuition account. One of the SRC’s aims for the year is to increase Tukkie pride. Human told the forum that, “We want to make sure you’ll always love the university you went to.” To achieve this goal, the SRC encourages students to wear university branded clothing on Thursdays. When concerns were raised about the cost of such clothing, Human said that the SRC is negotiating with Wannabee to reduce prices. The SRC’s final objective of the year is to amend parts of the Constitution for Student Governance. Like last year, students will be consulted during this process. SRC Treasurer Arno Burger tabled the SRC’s budget for 2014, which amounted to R1.5 million. He unpacked individual allocations according to portfolios. The forum raised questions about the R50 000 that was allocated to the SRC Aid Fund as opposed to the R127 000 set aside for the SRC’s annual dinner. Human said that the SRC would look further into the matter. Other issues that were highlighted at the forum included financial exclusion of NSFAS students, the criteria for residence placement, extending the bus route to Arcadia/Sunnyside and Prinshof campus, and student parking. Human said that talks with NSFAS have begun and that a national meeting of SRCs from universities across the country is scheduled later this year to address the challenge of a lack of funds made available by NSFAS.