victory
Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
The spirit of the rainbow nation came to haunt black student organisations at Pretoria Technikon this week when the Freedom Front won the Student Representative Council (SRC) elections.
A number of the FF’s 756 winning votes were cast by black students. The party has only been organising on the campus for two months.
Black students said their strange choice – of a party which is campaigning nationally for a homeland in which blacks are not welcome – was made because they are disillusioned with their traditional organisations.
Engineering student Thomas Maluleka said: “If you vote for black organisations, they won’t help you when you have a problem.” He said black student organisations campaigned for what he called the “gravy train”. “They want technikon cars, cellphones, parties and trips around the country.”
Information technology student Martha Ledwaba said: “I voted for the FF because other political parties on campus have lost their meaning and are not delivering to the students.”
The FF entered the elections convinced that it would not win. FF students plastered the institution with campaign posters promising to fight against affirmative action in sport, bursaries and staff appointments; and for Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.
The elections were also contested by the Pan African Student Movement of Azania (Pasma), the South African Students’ Congress (Sasco), the Azanian Students’ Convention (Azasco), the National Party-aligned Rats and the United Democratic Movement.
Human resource management student Johnny Masinga said black students did not vote for black organisations because they only emerge during elections and are silent during the year. Masinga added: “The FF won because black organisations here are divided, and some black students end up voting for what they view as a progressive party.”
The FF scooped 199 more votes than the next-highest party, last year’s winner Sasco, who came in at 557. Azasco was third (211 votes), followed by Pasma (143), the UDM (140) and Rats (30).
The FF now has three seats on the SRC executive committee; Sasco has two, and the other parties have one each – except for Rats, whose low tally did not win it a seat.
A former SRC member, who did not want to be named, said he was sure the new SRC would ignore gains made around affirmative action and compulsory community service for students, which it supported.
A Sasco member saw the election decided on bread-and-butter issues: “The Sasco-led SRC was divided and failed to resolve what many black students were really opposed to – a R1 fee for student transport. The buses were free before and are largely used by black students.” Other students said the former SRC had done little to influence management decisions. All it did was fight against academic exclusions and for a larger SRC budget.
Black students, said Pretoria Technikon Sasco president Phatudi Malepe, did not understand the environment in which Sasco operated. “Let us be clear about this,” he said. “We were voted out because the management froze our budget to make sure that during our leadership we did not deliver most of the things we promised last year.”
This week the FF was organising a party to celebrate its victory and promised to invite black students as well. Party arrangements included buying large quantities of meat – just like party arrangements made by their fellow black students.
FF Pretoria Technikon leader Ralph Seymore said black students voted for his party because they wanted to ensure that every student’s needs were recognised.
“Our party is for all and we want to take out the stigma of apartheid. Both black and white students at this technikon need a party they can trust. We are here for all students and we will help anyone, no matter if he or she is black or white,” said Seymore.