A member of the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) student representative council (SRC) has been suspended after being found guilty of sexual misconduct by the Special Sexual Offences Tribunal.
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This is according to UCT spokesperson, Elijah Mohola, who spoke to News24 on Wednesday.
“The University of Cape Town confirms that the special tribunal has passed its verdict and sanction in a case involving a member of the SRC,” he said. “The respondent is suspended from the university for a period of two years. The respondent has lodged a notice of his intention to appeal the sanction.”
He added that UCT would not comment further on the matter, pending the outcome of the appeal.
This comes after UCT’s Special Tribunal for Gender-Based Violence launched a probe into sexual misconduct allegations against a SRC member last year following public outrage on social media after a student took to Twitter accusing the SRC member of raping her in October 2021.
She described herself as a “female UCT student who began my first year in 2021”.
In a statement, the SRC confirmed the suspension.
“He has been removed from the SRC with immediate effect, and he has been suspended from the University of Cape Town for 24 months from 13 February 2023, subject to an appeal within seven days,” it said.
“We stand in solidarity with the victims of sexual assault and stand arm-in-arm with survivors. We will continue to fight against the pandemic of sexual and gender-based violence which plagues our country and the world.”
“We will unapologetically fight for the day we no longer fear walking in the streets, for the day we can exist without the anxiety of looking over our shoulders, and for the day we can trust people without the fear of what they may be capable of,” the council said.
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Picture: UCT / Twitter