The SA Students Congress (Sasco) has called for the immediate resignation of vice chancellor of the University of the Free State, Jonathan Jansen.
“Ever since his installation as vice chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS), Prof Jonathan Jansen has leapt from one disaster to another,” Sasco said in a statement.
The student organisation has accused Jansen of “dictatorial tendencies”.
Sasco was reacting to the UFS’s decision to suspend the student representative council (SRC) and its elections later this month, to ban any further activities by student party-political formations on campus following disruptions during the UFS and North West University’s intervarsity sports contest.
Protesting SRC and Sasco members disrupted various netball and hockey matches, which led to the cancellation of some sport events last Friday.
‘Anti-transformation’
Sasco said suspending “only black members” of the SRC was “racist and anti-transformation”.
It called for the immediate withdrawal of “feeble” charges against student leaders.
“This re-enforces our long-held view that this institution simply refuses to transform and the installation of a black vice chancellor was nothing but cosmetic makeup,” said Sasco.
The student congress said this was its “last warning” to the UFS and threatened a spate of “unprecedented protests”.
UFS dean of student affairs Rudi Buys rejected Sasco’s claims that the suspension of student leaders was racist.
“It’s a ridiculous claim. All student leaders involved were suspended, irrelevant of their colour.”
He said the interdict the university applied for was against all students taking part in disruptive protests.
“These threats [by Sasco] are simply an example of the type of engagement that has led to disruptive protests and the dysfunctionality of student politics on campus,” said Buys.
“It is ridiculous to ask the rector to resign; he has made the right decisions.”
Buys said the student transformation forum which the university was putting in place was proof the student movement was given due recognition.
Jansen announced on Tuesday that the forum would be established as a consultative body for students to reach agreement on the structures and content of student governance on the Bloemfontein campus.
Buys said no university staff member or management would be part of the forum and it would be mediated by someone outside the university. — Sapa