Agang activist Jock McConnachie is disappointed he will be unable to campaign on the Rhodes University campus before this year's election.
Agang activist Jock McConnachie is disappointed he will be unable to campaign on the Rhodes University campus before this year's election.
At Rhodes it is difficult for political parties to campaign unless a specific student society is affiliated with the party. This society, which must comprise at least 28 students, must be registered with the university by a student before the end of each academic year.
Eric Ofei, liaison officer for the Student Representative Council, said it was necessary for political parties to register these student societies because they were then governed by certain rules and requirements. This means the parties can be held responsible for "crossing any lines" during campaigning.
Ofei said the university did not allow political parties carte blanche to campaign on campus because this could lead to unnecessary conflict between the parties and their student supporters.
How, it was possible to make arrangements to campaign in some ways on the Rhodes campus, which must be done through the Registrar.
McConnachie, who is the national spokesman and policy convener for Agang, did not register a student society before the deadline last year.
McConnachie said he implored the university to allow him to put together a temporary society but was turned down.
According to McConnachie, the University of the Free State has a system of educating students about all political parties, which allows the parties to come on campus to explain their political views.
He says he cannot understand why Rhodes does not have a system like this.
“We (Agang) cannot be shut out from the students,” he said. “All registered parties should have access to the voters.”
