MARGEAUX ERASMUS
AfriForum supporters cheered as the judge ordered the immediate release of the 2011 SRC election results and the appointment of a new SRC within the next 14 days.
This was the verdict delivered by the Honourable Justice Rabie on Friday 24 February following the court case between AfriForum and the University of Pretoria, where AfriForum accused UP management of acting unconstitutionally when they declared the 2011/2012 Student Representative Council elections null and void after alleged illegal campaigning by AfriForum Youth.
Judge Rabie ruled in favour of AfriForum, dismissed the university’s decision to host re?elections this year and ordered UP to pay AfriForum’s legal fees.
Charl Oberholzer, National Chairperson of AfriForum Youth, told Perdeby: “I’m ecstatic. This is a day when the university must realise that they can’t just do whatever they want.”
“We can immediately get the results of the past [last year’s] elections, we can constitute the SRC in the next 14 days and everything that we promised the students, we can start delivering on. That’s exactly what we wanted.”
Oberholzer said that he didn’t want the results of this court case to create bad relations between students and UP management. He said that this is an opportunity for all societies and the university to create a new SRC that everyone will be satisfied with.
The university said that all though it did not agree with the verdict, it would respect the court’s orders, and implement them immediately. UP also stated that since “the relevant student structures are in place for only one year” and that year is well underway, appointing the SRC as elected last year will “serve the best interests of the University community.”
Photo: Bonita Lubbe
