Dr Sefoko Ramoshaba of George writes:
Student leadership at South African universities is deeply and strongly linked to external political interests and machinery.
Most student representative councils (SRCs) seem to serve at the behest of their external political masters rather than in the interest of the student body. These political masters even pour a lot of money into the student leadership election campaigns.
This sometimes extends its tentacles beyond student politics. The political masters' control of the SRC gives these masters a chance to influence some universities' internal decision-making processes.
This extends to the influence on the appointment of senior university executives in management positions, procurement processes, and the general governance of universities.
Candidates applying for a job and with political interest receive mobilisation support from the external political masters through the SRC. They wage organised public campaigns against candidates deemed unfavourable to their political masters by damaging their credibility before the shortlisting and interviewing processes.
The SRC captures universities' decision-making processes through continuous protest actions and disruptions of university operations as a form of pressure to change those decisions.
In most cases, in this highly contested space, management succumbs to pressure from the student leadership. Universities make decisions that contradict their own policies due to pressure from student leadership.
This kind of immense pressure will, eventually, undermine and weaken fiscal management protocols and compromise the quality of the academic project.
The result is not only weakened governance, but also damage to institutional integrity, academic excellence, and public trust.
Universities must be centres of learning and teaching, knowledge production, innovation, research, and independent thought. They cannot function as battlegrounds for external political masters pursuing their political interests and competition.
Student leadership must play an essential democratic role. It must be accountable to the general student body, not to the EFF, the DA, the MKP, or the ANC (political patrons). Strengthening governance, ensuring transparent SRC funding, protecting merit-based appointments, and enforcing procurement and academic policies consistently are essential steps if universities are to fulfil their educational purpose.
Dr Sefoko Ramoshaba is a higher education and student development specialist with more than 30 years' experience, including 17 years in senior management roles at South African universities. He is currently affiliated with Nelson Mandela University and writes in his personal capacity, with expertise in student governance, ethics, transformation, social justice and community engagement.
