New SRC Chairperson: Clinton du Preez

Clinton du Preez was elected as the Student Representative Council’s Chairperson for 2012/2013 by the new members of the SRC on Monday evening. The new Vice Chairperson is Roxanne Eastes.

The candidates in die Chairperson’s election were Clinton du Preez and Ziyanda Stuurman. Wiaan Visser, Ziyanda Stuurman and Roxanne Eastes were the candidates in the election for Vice Chairperson.

Clinton and Ziyanda took part in a Chairperson’s debate in the Neelsie Studente Centre on Monday afternoon. Both were given the opportunity to make a statement and to answer questions from the audience. See the video here.

Ziyanda Stuurman and Clinton du Preez participated in the SRC Chairperson’s debate on Monday (Photo: Justin Alberts).

Clinton, who served as the Chairperson of the Prim Committee on the SRC this year, said he believed student communities are the vehicle for student success. He added that Campus is ready to answer difficult questions and that it is necessary for students to engage with important issues so that they are prepared to be the leaders of tomorrow.

Clinton du Preez about:

Management

The best way to keep management accountable, is through the SRC Committees. Both Management and the SRC have the same objective – student success – but they sometimes have different ways of going about achieving this. “We are in the process of speaking up,” he said.

Relationships with other universities

Contact with other universities means that students can discuss issues that are bigger than just one campus, for  example student fees.

“This year, we had contact with a number of other universities and we learnt a lot. We felt good when we realised that our SRC is actually doing very well.”

Low voter turnout

Students need to be made aware about what the SRC does and how the SRC represents their interests.

“Why are the halls at the residences filled during HK elections? Because the students realise that those leaders have a direct impact on their daily lives. Students don’t know what the SRC does. We need to make the SRC more accessible. For example, we can tweet while in meetings with management.”

Representation

It is any SRC’s mandate to represent ALL students, irrespective of race, language, study course or accommodation (residence or PSO student).