Zikisa Maqubela has been appointed Rhodes University Student Representative Council (SRC) President for the remainder of the year.
Zikisa Maqubela has been appointed Rhodes University Student Representative Council (SRC) President for the remainder of the year.
This follows the sudden resignation of Siyanda Makhubo, who quit after he posted a controversial tweet on his personal Twitter account.
Maqubela, the former SRC Treasurer and Vice President, says he has a big job ahead of him.
“I joined the SRC last year in the general elections as Treasurer.
The circumstances by which I became President weren’t the best ones, but the prospects of serving the student body more broadly, which have always been my motivating factor, continue to excite me,” he said.
Maqubela also denied reports that there are tensions brewing in the SRC camp.
“There are no factions in the SRC. I’d like to strongly state that the SRC is strongly united as a team and that disagreement over certain issues mustn’t be allowed to equate to the belief that there is factionalism. We lead a diverse student body, thus that diversity of thought must appear in the SRC. We are ultimately a microcosm of the student body we lead,” he said.
He said student issues such as accessibility for disabled students, financial aid, transport, parking space, upgrading of some residences among many other issues remain a focus.
The BCom Accounting graduate said that the SRC, as under Makhubo, would continue to remain neutral on the Rhodes University name change issue. He said a decision is pending from the SRC on the matter.
He said, “The SRC, since Mr Makhubo was president, has stated that we are neutral as we hadn’t engaged the student body on the matter.
Now that we have, as was planned under Mr Makhubo’s administration, we will be taking a stance".
Maqubela also encouraged the student body to visit the SRC offices at the Steve Biko Buildings whenever they have problems.
“Our doors are open, and students must please come and talk to us. We continue to take student concerns seriously, this being all students. We care deeply about students,” he urged.
Tessa Ware replaces Maqubela as Vice-President, which leaves her International Affairs Officer position vacant.
The SRC Executive will rotate the duties of the position among themselves for the rest of the year.
The position is expected to be filled when the general elections of SRC 2016 come up later in the year.
