Thousands of University of Fort Hare students head to the polls on Thursday to elect a new student representative council.
The SRC elections will see the DA Student Organisation (Daso), SA Student Congress (Sasco) Pan Africanist Student Movement (Pasma), ANCYL, EFF Student Command (EFFSC) and Young Communist League (YCL) contesting.
This is the first time the YCL has contested the election, and this, together with the ANCYL appearing on the ballot, will likely marginalise any chance of Sasco gaining control of the campus.
In Alice, Daso has been in charge of the campus for several years after it took power from Sasco. Last year, Sasco suffered a heavy blow when progressive youth alliance (PYA) members joined forces with the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa Student Movement (Denosa SM).
The East London campus is currently under the control of the youth league.
The PYA is made up of Sasco, the ANCYL, the YCL and the high school representative body, the Congress of South African Students (Cosas).
Addressing an EFFSC mini- rally on Monday afternoon, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu, urged students to help put Julius Malema in the Union Buildings after next month’s general election.
EFFSC chair at the UFH East London campus, Mihla Hanise said they hoped to gain more seats after the SRC elections.
Currently, the EFFSC has a single seat at the East London campus. ANCYL chair Sonwabiso Mamkeli, said through their partnership with Denosa SM, they were “without a doubt ready to reclaim the East London campus”.
While Denosa SM would not be on the ballot, the two groups were working together.
Secretary of the YCL Lwazi Mtiki did not respond to questions...