A chamber of Student Parliament at Stellenbosch University (SU) filed an application with Student Court on 6 March to fast-track the elections of presiding officers of Student Assembly, five months after the initial caucus and elections.
This is according to Sphephelo Mhlongo, the convenor of Student Imbizo, a chamber of Student Parliament. Student Parliament handles matters of accountability and constitutional reviews through investigation, mediation, and arbitration, according to the Student Imbizo website.
The details of Student Imbizo’s application will not be made public “until the court has rendered its judgment”, said Mhlongo. At the time of publication a timeline for proceedings could not be confirmed.
FEATURE IMAGE: Stellenbosch University’s Ou Hoofgebou (Old Main Building), where an extraordinary plenary sitting of the Student Parliament was held on 21 October 2024. The Student Representative Council, as well as other students and student leadership constituencies, discussed the student constitution amendment at the October meeting, according to Sphephelo Mhlongo, convenor of Student Imbizo. PHOTO: Ishmael Mabena
No candidate met voter threshold
On 21 October 2024, Student Parliament – a legislature for Student Imbizo and Student Assembly – held an extraordinary plenary sitting to discuss the SU Student Constitution, followed by the caucus and elections for the speaker of Student Assembly, according to Mhlongo.
However, “none of the candidates could meet the threshold to be elected as speaker”, said Mhlongo.
Stellenbosch University’s Student Parliament promoted an extraordinary plenary sitting held on 21 October 2024 through social media and posters around campus, where a debate about the proposed student constitution took place at Stellenbosch University’s Law Faculty. The sitting was convened by the presiding officers of Student Assembly, said Sphephelo Mhlongo, convenor of Student Imbizo. PHOTO: Ishmael Mabena
“The delay in electing a speaker and establishing an executive team [since the election] is the result of a combination of structural, procedural, and timing challenges that have significantly impacted the functioning of Student Parliament,” said Dawn Manqoyi, former speaker of Student Parliament and chairperson of Student Assembly.
“Student Parliament is supposed to be the place where students challenge decisions that don’t align with their needs, [and] leaders defend their actions and choices in an open and transparent setting,” said Dawn Manqoyi, the former speaker of Student Assembly and chairperson of Student Parliament, whose term of office ended in October 2024. PHOTO: Supplied/Dawn Manqoyi
Delay means ‘we technically don’t have a student constitution’
The delay in the election of presiding officers of Student Parliament has led to “a situation where we technically don’t have a student constitution because [the outdated constitution] was supposed to lapse,” said Liam Gillesen, former delegate of Student Parliament and fourth-year BAccLLB student.
“So we [are] in a space where […] there’s a constitutional amendment that can’t be put through student parliament,” said Gillesen. “So then, what do we have now as a student body to hold student leaders accountable?”
A place where students have a say
“[Student Parliament] is the space where students hold their leaders accountable, where policies affecting student life are debated,” said Manqoyi. “[It is] where students themselves have a say in the direction of their university experience.”
Some of Student Parliament’s responsibilities include “[formulating] and maintaining policy in order to promote an institutional sensitivity to foster accountability and transparency within student leadership structures”, according to the Student Parliament website.
Stellenbosch University Law Faculty room 1023, where the second ordinary plenary sitting was held on 30 April 2024. “Without a stable governance structure, issues that students are facing are not being addressed efficiently, leaving many feeling unheard and unsupported,” said Dawn Maqoyi, former speaker of Student Assembly and chairperson of Student Parliament.
The division of Student Governance could not provide comment by the time of publication.