“Univen SRC elections not free and fair”

The recent SRC elections at Univen have come under heavy fire and have been described as not having been free and fair by certain stakeholders at the university.

The elections held in October were won by the ANCYL for the first time in three years but were described as a circus by disabled students at the university.

The ANCYL received eight seats out of the 13, with the EFF securing five seats. The results were described by the ANC Vhembe as an affirmation of the trust the youth had in the organization.

The disgruntled students, most of whom are blind and use braille to read, said they were taken from pillar to post when they wanted to exercise their democratic right to vote for the leadership of their choice. They said their constitutional rights had been trampled on and they had not had a fair chance to cast their votes as no braille ballot papers designed for the visually impaired had been available.

Mr Arnold Mathebula said he had spent the whole day trying his luck at the polling station but in vain. "No one was prepared to assist me and the others. I have not voted, and this infringed on my democratic right to choose the leadership of my choice. The SRC is up and running without my vote, and this makes me feel undermined," he said.

The EFF Student Command also voiced their displeasure about the results. Their provincial chairperson, Mr Mandla Shikwambana, said he was not impressed by the way the elections had been conducted.

"The voting turnout of the elections is a true reflection of the people who voted and those who intended to vote, but others could not vote.  So, as an organization we strongly believe that the elections were not properly run," said Shikwambana.

Univen spokesperson Mr Takalani Dzaga confirmed that they had received complaints about how the elections had been run. "We are busy investigating, and we will see to it that the matter is amicably resolved," he said.

News - Date: 18 November 2018

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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