ANC Youth League and the South African Students Congress at the University of Fort Hare are at each other’s throats again, as UFH prepares for the election of a new student representative council (SRC).
The Saturday Dispatch can reveal today that the ANCYL has partnered with the Democratic Nurses Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) at its East London campus. It comes after the Cosatu-affiliated Denosa held bilateral meetings with the ANC youth leaders, leaving ANC-aligned Sasco out in the cold.
Subsequent to these discussions on Wednesday evening, ANCYL and Denosa launched a campaign in preparation for the April 26 election.
Dressed in the regalia of both organisations, supporters went on a door-to-door campaign to recruit students. It was after the campaign that the two groups agreed to field ANCYL’s Sonwabiso Mamkeli, who was elected as a presidential candidate.
Mamkeli said they decided to join forces with Denosa because they were tired of being undermined by Sasco. He defended their decision to choose Denosa, saying the deal was not new.
“Sasco leaders take very important decisions without involving members of the ANCYL. Even last year, when we tried to contest the elections and were taken off the ballot, Denosa was with us and we are still together,” he said.
Sasco chairman Lwazi Mtiki said they were worried about the strained relations between them and the ANCYL.
“We are supposed to be working together to bring service delivery to students,” he said.
Mamkeli, who is also branch chairman of the ANCYL, said the main issue they were fighting about was deployment to the SRC, with both organisations expecting to field their own members to all top positions.
In the last SRC elections, the ANCYL teamed up with the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (Pasma), a move which saw Pasma gaining control of Fort Hare’s East London campus.
Mamkeli said: “We say if we are in a strategic alliance, consultation must always be done. There is no alliance that can be successful if there is going to be a boss within the alliance.”
Mtiki said they have tried on numerous occasions to engage with the ANCYL on campus, “but nothing has worked out”.
UFH’s ANCYL leaves Sasco out in cold
The Saturday Dispatch can reveal today that the ANCYL has partnered with the Democratic Nurses Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) at its East London campus. It comes after the Cosatu-affiliated Denosa held bilateral meetings with the ANC youth leaders, leaving ANC-aligned Sasco out in the cold.
Subsequent to these discussions on Wednesday evening, ANCYL and Denosa launched a campaign in preparation for the April 26 election.
Dressed in the regalia of both organisations, supporters went on a door-to-door campaign to recruit students. It was after the campaign that the two groups agreed to field ANCYL’s Sonwabiso Mamkeli, who was elected as a presidential candidate.
Mamkeli said they decided to join forces with Denosa because they were tired of being undermined by Sasco. He defended their decision to choose Denosa, saying the deal was not new.
“Sasco leaders take very important decisions without involving members of the ANCYL. Even last year, when we tried to contest the elections and were taken off the ballot, Denosa was with us and we are still together,” he said.
Sasco chairman Lwazi Mtiki said they were worried about the strained relations between them and the ANCYL.
“We are supposed to be working together to bring service delivery to students,” he said.
Mamkeli, who is also branch chairman of the ANCYL, said the main issue they were fighting about was deployment to the SRC, with both organisations expecting to field their own members to all top positions.
In the last SRC elections, the ANCYL teamed up with the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (Pasma), a move which saw Pasma gaining control of Fort Hare’s East London campus.
Mamkeli said: “We say if we are in a strategic alliance, consultation must always be done. There is no alliance that can be successful if there is going to be a boss within the alliance.”
Mtiki said they have tried on numerous occasions to engage with the ANCYL on campus, “but nothing has worked out”.
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