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27 August 2019
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Story Moeketsi Mogotsi
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Photo Johan Roux
The University of the Free State’s Student Representative Council (SRC) elections took place on the Bloemfontein,
Qwaqwa, and
South campuses during August.
The following candidates were successfully elected as 2019/2020 SRC members on our three respective campuses.
BLOEMFONTEIN CAMPUS SRC:President:Katleho Lechoo
Deputy President:Agobakwe Mboweni
Secretary:Nothabo Zungu
Treasurer:Zandile Makalima
Policy and Transformation:Kamohelo Thakheli
Student Development and First-Generation Students:Thobeka Buti
Commuter Students:Karabo Mtsweni
Associations Student Council:Mandilakhe Magalakanqa
Student Organisations Council:Dieketseng Motaung
Academic Student Council:Lebofsa Malete
Day Residence Council:Gert Terblanche
Campus Residence Council:Tyrone Willard
Postgraduate Student Council:Mahlomola Khasemene
International Student Council:Simba Matem
Student Media and Dialogue Council:Karabo Masike
Universal Access and Social Justice Council:Micaula Jewell
Civic and Social Responsibility Council:Nthato Musa
Arts and Culture Council:Motshidisi Rasego
Sports Council:Sphumelele Dube
QWAQWA CAMPUS SRC:President:Xolani Sandile Sibiya
Deputy President:Thembinkosi Phenyane
Secretary General:Nelisiwe Bridget Masango
Treasurer:Ntandoyenkosi Khumalo
Policy and Transformation:Bongiwe Nakile Khumalo
Student Development and First-Generation Students:Thokozani Siphiwe Zuma
Commuter Students:Thabiso Celimpilo Masuku
Media and Publicity:Simphiwe Sinenhlanhla Dube
Associations and Religious Affairs Student Council: Sicelo Mathews Twala
Campus Residence Council: Thabo Abraham Motaung
Arts and Culture Council:Andile Saviour Maseko
Academics Council:Siyabonga Mpumelelo Mbambo
Sports Council: Tshepiso Fortune Tshabalala
Universal Access and Social Justice Council: Siphamandla Joseph Shabangu
Postgraduate Student Council:Thato Karabo Moloi
International Student Council:Mamokete Mokhatla
SOUTH CAMPUS SRC:President: Phehellang Ralejoe
Deputy President:Nokubonga Mangaliso
Secretary:Mpumelelo Ndzube
Treasurer:Sithembiso Khoza
Policy and Transformation:Casles Phasha
Commuter Students:Sthembele Kunene
Expert in Africa Studies debunks African middle class myth
2016-05-10
From left: Prof Heidi Hudson, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies (CAS), Joe Besigye from the Institute of Reconciliation and Social Justice, and Prof Henning Melber, Extraordinary Professor at the CAS and guest lecturer for the day. Photo: Valentino Ndaba
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Until recently, think tanks from North America, the African Development Bank, United Nations Development Plan, and global economists have defined the African middle class based purely on monetary arithmetic. One of the claims made in the past is that anyone with a consumption power of $2 per day constitutes the middle class. Following this, if poverty is defined as monetary income below $1.5 a day, it means that it takes just half a dollar to reach the threshold considered as African middle class.
Prof Henning Melber highlighted the disparities in the notion of a growing African middle class in a guest lecture titled A critical anatomy of the African middle class(es), hosted by our Centre for Africa Studies (CAS) at the University of the Free State on 4 May 2016. He is an Extraordinary Professor at the Centre, as well as Senior Adviser and Director Emeritus of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in Sweden.
Prof Melber argued that it is misleading to consider only income when identifying the middle class. In his opinion, such views were advanced by promoters of the global neo-liberal project. “My suspicion is that those who promote the middle class discourse in that way, based on such a low threshold, were desperate to look for the success story that testifies to Africa rising.”
Another pitfall of such a middle-class analysis is its ahistorical contextualisation. This economically-reduced notion of the class is a sheer distortion. Prof Melber advised analysts to take cognisance of factors, such as consumption patterns, lifestyle, and political affiliation, amongst others.
In his second lecture for the day, Prof Melber dealt withthe topic of: Namibia since independence: the limits to Liberation, painting the historical backdrop against which the country’s current government is consolidating its political hegemony. He highlighted examples of the limited transformation that has been achieved since Namibia’s independence in 1990.