Accusations of sexual harassment and rape levelled at the president of the University of Cape Town’s Student Representative Council (SRC) have led to students protesting at several locations on UCT campuses today (Wednesday 2 February).
In a media statement released this afternoon, UCT said protest actions were disrupting vehicle access to campus and the UCT Shuttle service.
“All protests have been peaceful. As a university, we recognise and respect the right to peaceful protest,” the statement read.
UCT has confirmed that a complaint of sexual harassment and rape was being investigated urgently by their Special Tribunal for Gender-Based Violence.
“We maintain a survivor-centred approach whilst ensuring that a fair and due process is concluded as swiftly as possible. Any student or staff member who has experienced sexual assault or sexual and gender-based violence is encouraged to contact the Office for Inclusivity and Change (OIC),” said the university.
The allegations in question first surfaced on social media on Monday 31 January when a UCT student shared her account of events on Twitter.
According to her posting, the alleged rape took place on 28 October 2021.
The SRC president, who has subsequently been temporarily suspended (together with another high-ranking SRC member) from the council, pleaded his innocence, also on Twitter, on Tuesday 1 February, claiming he had flight details which proved that he wasn’t in Cape Town on the date that the alleged rape took place.
An official statement on the allegations released by the SRC on Tuesday 1 February read that, following the student’s tweet, an urgent meeting was called by the SRC “where the SRC was made aware of these grievous sexual violence allegations and alleged abuse of power”.
In its statement, the SRC condemned sexual violence, saying they were disgusted by the rape allegations.
There were also disruptions to the student registration process today.
However, UCT has linked these protests to the block on re-registration for the new academic year that applies to students who have outstanding fee debts of more than R1 000.
“Accumulated student fee debt is an ongoing challenge for UCT, along with all other universities in South Africa. The executive is engaged with the SRC in seeking a way forward this issue,” read the statement.
