THE University of the Western Cape says its student representative council (SRC) election process was transparent but some student organisations say it was rigged.
The SRC and Central House Committee (CHC) elections were held last week and according to student organisations the results were scheduled to be released yesterday but will now only be made available once a report by auditing firm KPMG has been completed.
“Following several reported instances of irregularities identified during the counting process, it was clear to Daso (the DA Students’ Organisation) that the elections were not free and fair. This had forced Daso and other contesting organisations to object to these elections,” said Marlo Ford, Daso’s chairman at the university.
The alleged irregularities include that ballot papers were found folded inside other ballot papers, which could mean that some students may have voted twice.
The EFF’s Palesa Mcophela said the process was not transparent and said if necessary the legal route would have to be followed.
In a statement yesterday, the university said during the counting process, a discrepancy was noted – a few student voters had mistakenly placed CHC ballots into clearly marked SRC ballot boxes and vice versa.
“The participating parties had not objected to any part of the process up to this point, and the counting continued. The parties later started disputing the elections based on one particular box that had been set aside.”
The chief electoral officer ruled that all disputed boxes should be placed aside for further investigation, and that the counting of undisputed boxes should continue.
But there were further objections.
The officer then ruled in terms of the election regulations, that those wishing to appeal the decision would have to launch an appeal with the deputy vice-chancellor but according to the university no appeal was lodged by any parties by deadline.
They were lodged after the deadline.
The counting resumed on Saturday but several student organisations didn’t send observers.
The university said it will only be able to announce the results after the report is out.