New SRC Constitution and election regulations

Dear students

The UCT Election Commission will soon host the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) and Faculty Council elections. As the student body prepares to take part in this democratic process, the Election Commission would like to inform students of key changes to the 2025 voting process.

The UCT Council approved the new SRC Constitution and Election Regulations on 28 June 2025.

The new regulations make three major amendments to the SRC and Faculty Council election process.

The first is the introduction of the Hybrid Electoral System, the second is that the voting period has been reduced and the third is that the eligibility criteria to run for SRC has been amended.

1. The Hybrid Electoral System

This year’s elections cycle will run under a hybrid system, with two key components:

1.1 All students may stand and/or vote in the general election for the following eight portfolios:

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary General
• Treasurer General
• Deputy Secretary General
• Labour & Student Services Coordinator
• Corporate Relations Coordinator
• Advocacy and Awareness Coordinator

1.2 The remaining eight portfolios will be voted for through constituency-based elections, where members of a constituency will elect the representative of their constituency in the SRC. These eight portfolios are:

• Sports and Recreation Coordinator
• Undergraduate Academic Coordinator
• Postgraduate Academic Coordinator
• Societies Coordinator
• Social Responsiveness Coordinator
• Residences and Housing Coordinator
• International Student Coordinator
• Disability Inclusion Coordinator

What is a constituency?

A constituency refers to the category or group in which a student is formally registered. This includes:

• sporting club members
• undergraduate students
• postgraduate and graduate students
• recognised society members
• recognised development agencies volunteers
• university residence students
• international students that have been registered at UCT for at least one complete semester prior to the election
• students with disabilities

For example, a student registered as a member of a society will be eligible to stand or vote for the SRC Societies Coordinator and an international student will be eligible to stand or vote for the SRC International Student Coordinator. Students will only be able to vote in the constituency in which they are registered.

Students will be able to know which constituency they belong to through the online voting platform, which will automatically display the eligible ballots you can vote for in your applicable constituency, based on your student records. Students with any voting queries can contact Vhugala Nthakheni, the Chief Electoral Officer.

2. Voting period reduced

Please note that the voting period has been reduced from five days to 48 hours. Students are encouraged to cast their votes promptly once the voting platform opens on 25 September and before voting closes at midnight on 26 September.

• See the full timeline for the SRC and Faculty Council elections.

Voting will take place online, and each student will automatically have their respective ballots available to them.

3. Eligibility to stand for election for the SRC

Please note that there have also been amendments to the eligibility to stand in the SRC. To be eligible a student must:

1. be registered at UCT for at least one complete semester prior to the election
2. provide proof of having consulted with a designated academic or student advisor
3. meet the academic requirements of a minimum GPA of 60% and have a CONT reflected on their academic transcript
4. have held an elected student governance position, including those appointed by the deployment committee, for a minimum of one semester, and having completed the induction associated with that previously held position
5. not have been found guilty of sexual misconduct by the UCT disciplinary structures or by any other recognised higher education institution
6. not have been convicted of any crime by any court of law in the Republic of South Africa or elsewhere, and not have been sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine or been fined more than R5 000; and
7. not be in full-time employment or intend on being employed on a full-time basis for the duration of their term.

Faculty Council Elections

For the Faculty Council elections, the voting period has been reduced from three days to 48 hours.

In the 2025 Faculty Council elections, prior to the commencement of voting, a student studying in more than one faculty should notify Vhugala Nthakheni, the Chief Electoral Officer, of their intention to opt-out of the primary faculty in which they are registered and opt-in to a secondary faculty for the purpose of Faculty Council elections.

Are you keen to stand for election?

Please note that the deadline for the submission of the SRC nomination form is 26 August 2025, and for Faculty Councils the deadline is 5 September 2025.

• See the SRC nomination form.
• See the Faculty Council nomination form.

Information sessions

We will be running an information session on the new SRC Constitution and Election Regulation for anyone who is interested on Tuesday, 19 August from 17:00 in Snape TS3B on upper campus.

• Join the meeting online.

Should you not be able to attend this session we will be hosting more constituency-based information sessions so please reach out to the Election Operations Office to find out more.

For further enquiries, please email the UCT Elections Operations Office.

Engage, Elect, Empower

#MakeYourMark

UCT Election Commission

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• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements