EFF condemns VUT's withdrawal of venue for national people's assembly as a political sabotage

13 October, 2014

The Economic Freedom Fighters condemns Vaal University of Technology's withdrawal of its decision to give EFF a venue for its National People's Assembly taking place in December this year. VUT has retracted its agreement to give this venue to the EFF even after taking a deposit of R250 000 and taking the EFF leadership on a site visit for proper landscape planning.

VUT houses Pansy Tlakula and the Mayor of Sedibeng in its council, and is currently under direct administration by the department of Higher Education. It therefore is taking direct political instruction to close its campus against the EFF. This is despite the fact that the management has already, rightly, given the EFF a venue to hold its People's Assembly, thus compromising its institutional autonomy and academic independence.

Institutions of higher learning must be the number one defenders of the freedoms to association, speech and battle of ideas. VUT, by losing its ranks simply to satisfy the bully tactics of the ANC, has ceded its rights to institutional autonomy and rendered itself a mere ANC branch.

The EFF had already sent millions of rands on merchandise and other conference material on the basis of the agreement reached with VUT. EFF will therefore take the university to court and make sure that the venue is given back for the People's Assembly. Should the venue not be given to the EFF, a court process to make sure that all the money on merchandise and other conference material is fully replaced by VUT since it bares its name.

The university must be warned that if they will not concede on these questions, they shall be met with the might of working class mass action.

Statement issued by the Economic Freedom Fighters, October 13 2014

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