AfriForum Youth approaches court regarding unfair disqualification of SRC member at Maties
AfriForum Youth filed an urgent court application against Stellenbosch University (SU) at the Western Cape High Court yesterday to review the disqualification of Jolene le Roux as a member of the university’s Student Representative Council (SRC). AfriForum Youth filed an appeal against her unfair disqualification, but the Student Court rejected it on Monday, 11 November. Her disqualification follows a protracted process, which AfriForum Youth describes as a concerted effort to suppress Afrikaans, Afrikaans students, and especially Afrikaans leadership at this university.
The uproar surrounding Le Roux’s candidacy in the SR election erupted in August when she was accused of violating the university’s Election Commission rules. It was argued that during the SRC election campaign, Le Roux gained an unfair advantage from a social media post about a National Women’s Day event that was made on AfriForum Youth’s Instagram page. Despite the lack of evidence, the Student Court found that the post promoted her campaign. However, she was informed in writing in early September that it had been decided to dismiss the complaints against her, as a decision to disqualify her would be unconstitutional. On 5 September, it was announced that she had been elected to the SRC, but shortly afterwards she was informed that an application to disqualify her as an SRC member had been made to the Student Court. The court delivered its judgement on 5 October, finding that Le Roux had violated Section 3(7)(a) of the university’s election rules. AfriForum Youth’s appeal was in response to this ruling.
“This decision is not only unfair to Le Roux but also to the students who chose her to represent their interests on the SRC,” says Yvonne Gerber, Development Officer of AfriForum Youth. “The university’s handling of this case indicates a continuing agenda to keep pro-Afrikaans students out of leadership positions, and therefore the High Court must now intervene in this case of unfair disqualification,” adds Gerber.
