KZN SASCO statement on four former leaders/ students being charged by UKZN The South African Student Congress (SASCO) in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) is appalled and dismayed by the attitude of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) after it was revealed to us that the University has moved to institute formal charges of misconduct against four senior students and leaders in our eyes. The crime of these students is that they dared to write an Open Letter to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, challenging him with material evidence to persuade the powers that be to extend the registration deadline in the main. There is a growing trend in Institutions of Higher Learning in this country, that of trying to subordinate students to kowtow to the dictates of management unapologetically and without criticism. This practice is unconstitutional and undermines the ability of students to be independent and critical scholars. This practice further extends itself into the nature of research that students can carry out whilst affiliated with these institutions. More often than not the students must tailor make their research proposals to fit conventional discourses within academia and it is highly likely that such discourses are anti the working class and its struggles in our country. By seeking to silence these four students, the University management is playing into the hands of a tyrannical practice whereby academic leaders believe that they are beyond reproach and in fact they see themselves as Messiahs of the problems in our society. The honest truth is that even the most esteemed Professors remain fallible human beings and in most cases they have poor managerial skills hence the destitution of students in many Universities across the country. Students must continue to reveal these faces of tyranny wherever they emerge and assert themselves because South Africa is ad democratic and students must also be afforded all rights – in particular the right to freedom of expression –even when they are within the gates of Universities. Our Universities are public institutions and as a result they must continue to live up to the spirit of our country’s constitution. We are aware that in UKZN there exists a pronounced fear for the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Makgoba. This suggests that the VC has conducted himself in a way that disinterests people from engaging him and as SASCO we view this as being allergic to robust and critical discourse – even though the University’s Transformation Charter calls for the strengthening of dialogue within the University Campuses. As SASCO we further note that students in KZN, particularly in Durban, are under siege because recently we saw the DUT Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bawa disband the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the Durban Campus. This was done without any consultation with the student community that voted in the SRC and it was also done without necessarily attending to the issues and grievances that students were raising through the SRC. Again, such a unilateral decision undermines the democratic choices made by the student community as they voted in those SRC members. There seems to be a sense of ill-informed arrogance on the part of University managements in that they can easily trample on democratic and constitutional values that are highly celebrated in our country as if Universities exist as some ivory towers that are ungrounded in our societal reality as a country. We join in on the calls for the charges against the four UKZN students to be dropped. There is nothing defamatory about their Open Letter to Prof Makgoba. Instead of dealing with the issues, which are of high importance to us as SASCO given that we are a student organization with a bias to the working class and the downtrodden in our society, the University goes after the students. An internal tribunal that is to oversee the inquiry of these charges against the students already possesses characteristics of a Kangaroo Court as its independence and credibility is already cast in doubt. We do not see it possible that such a court can adversely find against the University management that is in charge of the University – this is a highly improbable situation. As SASCO we will support these students of UKZN and mobilise our structures to do the same. From hereon we will refer to these students as THE BIG FOUR because they have managed to stand up and be counted to expose the arrogance that is embedded within management structures of Universities across the country and in particular KwaZulu-Natal. Issued by KZN PEC For more information contact Provincial Chairperson: Dumo Ntyinkala 073 521 7661 Or Provincial Secretary: Ntuthuko Ntshangase 076 259 5412
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 17:08:49 +0000
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