AfriForum Youth demands suspension of SRC election at Tuks following assault

A representative of AfriForum Youth was assaulted at the University of Pretoria today by a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) UP Student Command during the 2017 election of the University’s Student Representative Council (SRC).

The incident, as well as other violations of election rules by other parties who participate in the election, compels AfriForum Youth to demand the postponement of the election.

AfriForum Youth believes that a free and fair election is no longer possible because of alleged intimidation of voters and the thoughtless actions of the university’s independent electoral commission.

“The university’s independent electoral commission changed the election rules at random during the election process, while it reacted insufficiently to AfriForum Youth’s complaints. The complaints regarding the university’s independent electoral commission have been referred to the independent monitoring body,” says Henk Maree, Head of AfriForum Youth.

Maree singles out a few of the complaints to prove why the elections cannot continue. These include:

• The alleged assault and intimidation of UP students;
• Representatives of the university’s independent electoral commission who allegedly distributed different versions of the rules to different parties which led to unfairness;
• The alleged inconsistent application of the election rules by representatives of the university’s independent electoral commission; and
• The university’s independent electoral commission’s alleged refusal to act after complaints regarding the violation of election rules were received.

“AfriForum Youth cannot sit on the side-line and watch while a so-called independent commission only applies the rules if and when they see fit. The university’s independent electoral commission is supposed to ensure a free and fair election. What we now see does not adhere to this ideal,” says Julius Landman, Tuks Representative for AfriForum Youth.