THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN
11 August 2015
VOLUME 74: EDITION8
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Reviewing the SRC
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IN THIS ISSUE
Aisha Abdool Karim and Robyn Ausmeier
O
n Thursday, August 6th, at the sitting of Student Parliament, questions were raised about the functioning of the SRC and their ability to represent the interests of the students. The issue was raised when Khutso Modiselle, SecretaryGeneral of the SRC, failed to produce the organisational report that was scheduled to be presented at the sitting. Following this, it was revealed that she has not been active in the SRC for the past month. At Student Parliament it was also revealed, and confirmed by SRC President Ramabina Mahapa, that Mmamalema Molepo, Alex Hotz and Sechaba Nkitseng are no longer a part of the leadership body. Both Molepo and Hotz, Chair of Sport and Recreation, and Day Students respectively, cited personal reasons and discontent with the actions of the SRC for their resignations. Nkitseng, Chair of Labour and Services, was dismissed by the Election Commission after failing to meet SRC requirements. Avishek Dusoye was reinstated following Molepo’s resignation. Two motions were raised at Student Parliament with regard to the status of Zizipho Pae in the SRC. A decision was taken to expel Pae from the SRC on July 21st in response to homophobic comments made by Pae during the vacation period.
student observers called for the SRC to be disbanded However, Vice Chancellor Dr Max Price asked that the SRC “accept that Ms Pae is and remains an elected member of the 2014/2015 Students’ Representative Council”. Price’s direct intervention in the matter, as well as the SRC Constitution, mean that the SRC must reinstate Pae. Given the limitations of the SRC Constitution, also apparent earlier this year during a reshuffling of SRC portfolios, the SRC will be reviewing and amending its constitution. The first motion proposed at Student Parliament was that Pae be
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Image: Morema Molotsi taken out of the executive structure in the SRC and reshuffled into another position. This motion was dismissed after discussion and a new motion was presented – that a vote of no confidence be taken against Pae. The result of this vote, taken by members of Student Parliament, showed a majority voting in favour of no confidence. However, this was not the twothirds majority needed to bind the SRC into action. During the sitting of Student Parliament, student observers called for the SRC to be disbanded, stating that they did not feel the SRC was a true reflection of what students had voted for. One student suggested that they make an ad-hoc committee with heads of societies in place of the current SRC. In a separate interview, Mahapa stated that disbanding would not be a viable solution, as the SRC still performs a number of functions, including sitting on committees and consulting with students. The SRC was scheduled to have a strategic planning session during the vacation to lay out their plans for the second semester; however, this meeting did not occur. According to Mahapa, the meeting was cancelled due to tensions within the SRC owing to
Pae’s comments, and also because a number of SRC members were unable to attend. Mahapa stated that there are plans for the SRC to set aside a weekend to outline programmes for the second semester.
majority of the SRC was unable to submit their required reports on time, or at all Modiselle’s failure to produce an organisational report is not uncommon and a ‘DP List’ was produced at the last Student Parliament, which showed that the majority of the SRC was unable to submit their required reports on time, or at all. In terms of financial documentation, there were also errors in how SRC members structured their spending reports, which left large amounts of money unaccounted for. This year, the SRC did not present an overview of the budget at the beginning of the year, and has instead allocated funds on a case-by-case basis. Mahapa noted that this is a potentially problematic way of organising funds as it is more difficult to
hold people accountable, but they are looking to resolve this through the establishment of a financial policy that will provide a guideline for the SRC’s handling and administration of cash. According to Mahapa, there were plans to draw up a budget when the SRC took office; however, many members did not submit their proposed budgets as they did not know the estimated costs of events. An SRC Performance Review is currently underway, led by an independent task team headed by Keenan Hendrickse, Speaker of Student Parliament. The decision to establish a review committee arose after a number of SRC members failed to submit feedback reports during the previous sitting of Student Parliament. The review began during vacation, on July 16th and 17th, when the panel met to review all current members of the SRC. The aim of the review is to provide a means with which to hold the SRC accountable as well as to recommend revisions to the SRC Constitution to avoid similar problems arising in the future. The findings of the report will then be presented on September 10th at a special sitting of Student Parliament.
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