South African Student Congress (Sasco)
The creation of Sasco was much like combining oil with water. Two student organisations from radically different racial and historical backgrounds — the South African National Students’ Congress (Sansco) and the National Union of South African Students (Nusas) — finally overcame their differences to merge in September 1991.
The backdrop of internal tensions and mistrust goes all the way back to 1969 when black students, led by Steve Biko, broke away from Nusas and formed their own organisation — the South African Students Organisation (Saso) — in protest against the dominance of white liberals in Nusas.
But if Nusas was unable to satisfy the student left, it equally failed to accommodate the white right. Nusas (which was the first student organisation in the country, formed in 1924) was also the point of departure for the other student movement: the Afrikaner Nasionale Studente Bond in the 1930s, which was formed by Afrikaans-speaking students who walked out in protest against Nusas’s liberal stance on politics.
Saso didn’t only focus its attention on student politics; it was also central in the struggle for liberation and became the foundation of the black consciousness movement of the 1970s. The apartheid government of the time took note of its influence in black politics and subjected its leaders to constant harassment and abuse at the hands of the police. Among them were future icons and leaders like Steve Biko, Barney Pityane and Patrick Mosiuoa Lekota.
The organisation was subsequently banned in 1977 as part of the national crackdown on the black consciousness movement and its leaders.
In an attempt to fill the void left by Saso, black students came together to form the Azanian Students Organisation (Azaso), which demonstrated the growing influence of black consciousness among student activists.
Although Azaso and Nusas operated as separate entities, they started working together on certain issues and engaged in joint campaigns. They collaborated on campaigns like the anti-Republic day campaign in 1981, the campaign against the tricameral parliament in 1983/4 and participated in the formation of the United Democratic Front.
From Azaso emerged the South African National Student Congress (Sansco), the organisation embraced the traditions and symbols of the Congress Movement. The new organisation continued to work with Nusas in the struggle to liberate education, including opposing the Bill that proposed the cutting of subsidies to universities that campaigned against apartheid.
Sansco was also closed down by apartheid forces in 1988, but its banning only lasted two years. Its leaders were released from prison due to pressure from students and talks to form a non-racial student movement started. Although Sansco was from a revolutionary background and Nusas from a liberal background, the two subscribed to the same principles of democracy, non-racism and non-sexism. From September 1 to 6, 1991, black and white tertiary students met at Rhodes University to launch the non-racial Sasco.
Sasco adopted five principles into its constitution:African leadership, working-class leadership, democracy, non-sexism and non-racism.
In recent years, the reputation of Sasco for fearlessly and effectively representing the best interests of students and education has been compromised. In particular, it has been criticised for failing to effectively address pressing student problems, especially the exclusion of students due to the non-payment of fees and issues of transformation at the tertiary level. Maladministration, corruption and misusing funds have also become some of Sasco’s modern characteristics, and these have played their part in the decline of membership. Sasco’s national secretary-general Ngoato Phadime estimates it has close to 10 000 members.
The South African Democratic Students’ Movement (Sadesmo)
Formed in 1991, Sadesmo is yet to really make its presence felt in student politics.
Sadesmo came into existence when political violence was at its highest in the country and its credibility was in question from the start. It was rumoured to have been formed by apartheid security agents to neutralise Sasco. As a result, Sadesmo operated only at the University of Zululand until, 1998 when it launched a second branch at the University of Durban-Westville and others in Gauteng, Free State and Mpumalanga.
But, as with most historical records, accounts of what happened vary. Sadesmo’s own literature states that — and the following statement is quoted verbatim — its ‘role was to advance student needs, make educational institutions governable and to deal with any obstacle that came across from any normal schooling and hinder educational progress”.
Currently under the leadership of Linda Hlongwa, its founders include Zenzele Phakathi (now chairperson of the IFP Youth Brigade in KwaZulu-Natal) and Musa Myeni (an ex-IFP leader in Gauteng). Sadesmo’s Sbusiso Mswelithe says the organisation boasts about 8 500 members.
Freedom Front (VF-Tuks)
VF-Tuks was established in 1996 when political parties were allowed to participate in the SRC election at the University of
Pretoria. Its core concern is the preservation of Afrikaner culture and language.
To qualify as a member, you have to belong to a Protestant church group and must be committed to the preservation of Afrikaans language and culture.
VF-Tuks formed an alliance with Tuks Afrikaanse Studente to form the largest student association on campus, with a membership of just over 2 000, and has been winning SRC elections every year since 1997. But like many other Afrikaner organisations in the country, it has also come in for criticism of being racist.
— Additional reporting by Sechaba Nkosi