The Stellenbosch University (SU) Student Electoral Commission (SEC) recently announced the newly elected members of the Student Representative Council (SRC), following the highest voter turnout in 14 years.
This is according to Sibabalwe Manyifolo, SEC chairperson and chief electoral officer.
Ben Anderson, Emilio Botes, Buhle Mpanza, Johan Weideman, Pulane Mtshali, Sanelisiwe Tsawulwayo, Asanda Vilakazi, Ofentse Ledwaba, and Sinawo Sangovana were announced as the new members of the 2025/2026 SRC at the SU library auditorium on 1 September. SMF News was in attendance.
This comes after elections were held from 22 to 29 August, according to an SEC Instagram post.
A few of the elected Stellenbosch University (SU) Student Representative Council members. Front (left to right): Johan Weideman, Sanelisiwe Tsawulwayo, Buhle Mpanza, and Asanda Vilakazi. Middle (left to right): Ofentse Ledwaba, Ben Anderson, and Sinawo Sangovana, standing alongside Fawaaz Cupido, senior prim committee chairperson, and Arnold Ntumvi Nguti, prim committee chairperson. Back right: Pieter Kloppers, director at the centre for student life and learning at SU. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
“The number of eligible voters were 33 016 and the number of total votes received were 5 075,” said Manyifolo. “That is a 15.3% voter turnout.”
‘To bring more visibility’
A total of 3 972 votes were received in 2024, representing a voter turnout of 11%, according to Manyifolo, who added that this recent election saw the highest voter turnout since Brandon Como’s term as SEC convenor in 2011.
Manyifolo attributed this year’s higher voter turnout to an increase in SRC visibility.
“Something significant that we tried to do this year is to bring more visibility to the SRC [and] voter education,” she said. “Most students, even when we were doing our voter awareness campaigns, don’t know […] what the SRC does.”
The offices of Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Student Representative Council (SRC). The SRC is the highest student representative structure at SU, according to the SU website. Successful 2025/2026 SRC candidates were announced on 1 September at the SU library auditorium. SMF News was in attendance. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
The plan now with the SRC is to fix the fundamentals, according to Anderson.
“If we can get [things] right, like a budget, making sure that we’re meeting regularly […] and that we’re doing planning – that’s the way that we actually get change,” said Anderson. “I think that needs to be the priority.”
The election process
The SEC received 28 student nominations, according to Iso Mtirara, SEC director of marketing and campaigns.
According to Manyifolo, the SEC created an equal-level playing field for everyone who participated in the elections.
The SEC handled the campaigning of election participants so that everyone participating had a free and fair chance to contest, she said.
Students on the Stellenbosch University (SU) campus. Voting for SU’s 2025/2026 Student Representative Council (SRC) concluded on 29 August, according to an Instagram post by the Student Electoral Commission. For SRC elections, every student is allowed to cast one vote for every position available and each student’s vote weighs the same, according to the SU student constitution. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala