Progressive Youth Alliance beats EFF in SRC poll at Wits

The Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) has emerged victorious in the 2018/2019 Student Representative Council (SRC) elections at Wits University.

The group is taking over the reins from the Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command (EFFSC). According to results posted on the Wits Twitter stream‚ only one of the 13 contested seats went to the EFF.

The PYA comprises the ANC Youth League‚ the South African Students Congress (Sasco)‚ the Young Communist League (YCL) and the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA). In the previous election‚ the EFF scored 12 out of 15 seats.

The loss comes after EFF national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi visited the campus on Monday to campaign for votes. EFF leader Julius Malema also tried to rally support. His party tweeted a video that showed him voting for the EFF candidates at Wits. Malema is a registered student at the institution.

Following the EFF defeat‚ Malema took to social media to say they accepted defeat.

“We accept the outcome of the SRC elections at Wits and congratulate our @WitsEFF branch for putting up a good fight. Now let's remove our posters and clean up our university‚” he tweeted.

Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel had earlier told TimesLIVE that the elections had been mostly peaceful‚ despite two violent incidents. She said that more students had participated in the elections compared to previous years.

Wits is one of the few universities where the EFF has failed to win campus elections.