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The Convocation of the South African Students comprises members of various generations of the student movement from the National Union of Students to the South African Student Congress. The convocation of Sasco is inter-generational, each representing a particular period in the life of the student movement.
As an organisation with a unique identity that gives it a competitive edge over others, the Sasco Convocation exists alongside civil society organisations founded to advance and protect the interests of the democratic State, to support change and development, to contribute to national dialogue and nation building.
Key amongst its purposes is to contribute to the creation of a national democratic society through usage of a number of instruments, hence our values of Innovation, Development and Prosperity.
In giving effect to the essence that underpins our existence, Convocants established a strategic vehicle in the name of Strategic Perspective on Transformation. In broader terms this is a business unit of the convocation. Largely it is responsible for a number of activities ranging from but not limited to:
The establishment of SPoT occurs in a sea of convocation groups in the political and civil society, hence the intergenerational nature of the student movement in the course of its evolution. The existence of these groups is a development that challenges us to build an organisation with the unique identity, hence a departure from convention to establish a purposeful entity which will form collaborations and strategic alliances with progressive forces to drive development and to shape and influence the national discourse and policy.
Our mission is predicated, shaped and influenced by one of the pillars upon which the student movement pivoted, community work. In the course of our existence, even today we viewed ourselves as members of the community before we are students. Hence our collective resolve to contribute to societal developmental even post student life.
Our intergenerational existence spans many decades ranging from repressive days of apartheid to democracy, all based on community work as a pillar of struggle to rid society of socio-economic maladies and to contribute to development in a number of ways in building a true non-sexist, non-racial, democratic society based on freedom, equality and justice.
Over many years the South African Students Congress played an important role in building and nurturing talent and leadership. In its arsenal it boasts industry leaders, political and community leaders, academics, senior civil servants, diplomats, accountants, information technology specialist, journalists, engineers, educators, medical doctors and professionals across all walk of life, each with distinctive traits of leadership qualities, playing part in various sectors of the economy and society.
In the course of its history of existence it played a sterling role in the advancement of youth and student struggles, hence the injunction that “we are members of society before we are students” in recognition of its rootedness in society and its role in the fight for freedom and justice and the consolidation of the gains of the struggles and socioeconomic transformation for an egalitarian society where the potential of each individual can be unleashed to give meaningful effect to change and development, to create jobs and to fight poverty.
Education plays an important part in every nation. Mentoring, development and usage of this cohort of skills should be aligned to the growth and development strategy of the country, especially human capital development to give impetus to the apex goals of the developmental State.
Convocants are an inalienable part of society, entrusted with a responsibility to contribute to change and development for shared prosperity and growth. South Africa faces gargantuan challenges requiring every effort to reverse many years of apartheid colonialism, patriarchy, wider inequality and the reversal of the frontiers of poverty whose vestiges are still palpable even many years since the 1994 dawn of the democratic sun.
The Convocation of Sasco has role in building organs of people’s power within the context of “The People Shall Govern” as part of strengthening democracy and contribution in building a national democratic society to advance the national democratic revolution as led by the African National Congress as the vanguard of the oppressed and the poor. This brings into being the vexing question of the strategic orientation of SPoT as a civil society organisation. And its relations with the South African Students Congress.
The Strategic Perspective on Transformation will assume a binary approach in its relationship with the African National Congress or any progressive organisation sharing common vision and goals. The first approach would be complimentary, supporting development.
The second approach will be based on robust and honest engagement and persuasion where the ANC veers from its founding principles or conduct itself in a manner alien to its values of servant leadership. It will be an approach that is contradictory to ensure that we are on course the path National Democrtic Re
This is done within the ambit of constructive engagement and accountability to the electoral mandate and the implementation of the ANC programme of action incongruence with the developmental agenda of the democratic State.
The uniqueness and strength of our organisation is expressed by the quality of the leadership that constitutes and drives this organisation. Convocants of Sasco are no ordinary members of society. We are leaders in our own right and possess the intellectual capital to drive an implement development. It this leadership that plays a role in the ANC, the trade union movement and communities..
We subscribe to the values of:
We are the Strategic Perspective on Transformation