STUDENTS COULD HAVE ATTENDED SUMMER SCHOOL – SRC

MBABANE – William Pitcher Student Representative Council (SRC) President Bheka Mabuza admitted that students could have been part of the Communist Party Swaziland (CPS) Summer School on their own volition.

Mabuza said the students have their individual right to participate in the liberation of the country, but not as representatives of the institution. In an interview yesterday, Mabuza, who was in the company of members of his executive, said as an organisation, they were aware that students do participate in the struggle on their own volition as individuals. He said they encouraged the students to play their part in the struggle against the current regime because democratic education could only be attained in a free society.

Fight

Mabuza said students had shown a great political will to fight for the democratisation of the country so that they would achieve academic freedom. He added that the impression that students did not have the intention to participate in the fight for freedom was not true. Mabuza’s comment comes after an online publication; Swaziland News, published a story that The Times SUNDAY printed an allegedly false article implicating the students in a plot to sabotage the State. In a recorded interview, the SRC president did not deny that students from the institution could have been a part of the CPS Summer School in December 2021, but said they were not representing the institution. When interviewed, The Times SUNDAY Editor Thobeka Manyathela noted that there was no insinuation in the article that the students who attended the summer school were representing the college.

The article quoted a private and confidential document that was leaked from the meeting citing specifically first year students from the institution. The CPS did not deny the contents of the document either.  The document specifically read: “The Communist Party Swaziland (CPS) successfully held its summer school in Piet Retief Gert Street, notable attendance were the William Pitcher College first years and the following was discussed ….” The SRC president said he was aware of the document, when this reporter wanted to show him its exact contents.

 Impression

Mabuza, however, said their issue was the headline which he said gave an impression that all students in the institution were a part of the plot to sabotage the state. “We are saying as an SRC, students have a right and a role to play in the liberation of the country in their own individual capacity. “We have been saying as a student organisation, our cry for academic freedom will remain a dream under the current government and we are hoping that a democratic government is the one that will prioritise education. “The quote of only William Pitcher students in the story gives the impression that all students were there, yet we have guidelines enshrined in our constitution as students of the institution,” he said.

Adopt

He said the guidelines stated that they must call a meeting to adopt any new strategy in the fight for liberation of the country and academic freedom. The headline read: “Pitcher Student Recruited For State Sabotage,” and it specifically did not mention ‘All Students’. The SRC president was made aware that the Times cannot alter the document where it referred to the name of the institution. His concern was that the Times SUNDAY could have said ‘Some  William Pitcher students or tertiary students’. However, the document specifically spoke of the notable presence of William Pitcher students while the story correctly states that it was not just William Pitcher students who attended, but also those from other tertiary institutions.  

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