*Caption: Some representatives of student organisations campaigning outside the library at the Steve Biko campus

Written by: Elizabeth Kunene

As the country awaits change through local government elections that took place earlier this month, the Durban University of Technology (DUT) looks forward to a three-day Student Representative Council (SRC) election.

This year’s elections left some of the students a little confused when it came to who they would vote for in the South African Students Congress (SASCO), as the organisation has now seemingly been split into half; the first half wears yellow t-shirts and the second half wears white t-shirts.

Sbongamandla Shezi, a representative of the SASCO ‘yellow t-shirts’ said, “There is only one SASCO which is the original, the one that represents the DUT students. When we had a meeting with the ANCYL, the SASCO ‘white t-shirts’ were told to stop using the SASCO logo, we told them that there is only one SASCO.”

Zama Mncube, former SRC president and under the ‘white t-shirt’ SASCO said, “(We) will be wearing white shirts and the other SASCO will be wearing yellow shirts.”

Some students revealed that the SASCO ‘white’ members have been stopping students and telling them that they are the original party in the elections. They also allegedly also sent out SMS’s telling students to vote for them.

While the majority of students voted and some refrained from taking part, they argued that they did not know who to vote for. The Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command (EFFSC) and Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) were the only two parties that looked stable.

“If the students want to govern they will govern, we will change a lot of things since our campaign is based on only what the students want and nothing more,” said EFFSC representative Nkanyiso Ngubane.

The SRC elections will place from Tuesday 16 August until Thursday, August 18.

Voting stations are set up in all four Durban campuses allowing for easy access.