DAVID CROSS
The dispute between UP and Afriforum regarding the 2011/2012 SRC election came one step closer to resolution on Friday, when Afriforum Youth and UP management appeared in the Pretoria High Court.
In an interview with Charl Oberholzer at the Pretoria High Court he revealed AfriForum’s primary ambition was to have a permanent SRC appointed with immediate effect. “We need to constitute a new SRC – that is our only purpose here today,” said Oberholzer. The former SRC President also expressed his belief that the events that led to the university’s decision to have a re-election were biased and blatantly unconstitutional. Both parties presented their cases before the judge in a 6 hour sitting, which was brought to an end by the judge’s decision to resume the case next week. This case follows after the 2011/2012 student parliament elections were declared null and void by UP, after AfriForum distributed pamphlets that had not yet been approved by the IEC, as per UP election rules. The pamphlets, which were distributed on the Hatfield campus, contained the names and pictures of faculty candidates. Under their photographs was the caption, “Vote for the AfriForum candidate in your faculty”. Faculty house candidates are supposed to be voted for by merit rather than political party association.
Both UP and AfriForum advocates refused to comment, expressing they were not at liberty to discuss the case.
The court case is set to resume this week. UP has said that no decisions regarding a permanent SRC will be taken until the verdict has been delivered. Until then, a temporary representative body (TRC) has been formed to manage the SRC’s duties.
Photo: Bonita Lubbe
