WATCH | Students at CPUT face dire accommodation crisis as they sleep on floors
An escalating accommodation crisis is reportedly gripping the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Students have described being constantly moved between temporary accommodation and being left on the streets, often late at night.
These arrangements are widely reported as unsafe, uncomfortable, and falling far short of the expectations students had upon enrolling for the academic year.
Video footage and on-the-ground reporting have shown students resting briefly in makeshift temporary accommodation before being returned to sit with their luggage outside campus gates, reinforcing claims that these interim solutions provide little comfort or security.
!function(r,u,m,b,l,e)r._Rumble=b,r[b](window, document, “script”, “Rumble”);
Rumble(“play”, “video”:”v7353h6″,”div”:”rumble_v7353h6″);!function(r,u,m,b,l,e)r._Rumble=b,r[b](window, document, “script”, “Rumble”);
Rumble(“play”, “video”:”v7353h6″,”div”:”rumble_v7353h6″);
First-year student *Patience Mavimba (not her real name), who travelled from Limpopo after being accepted with NSFAS funding, described her experience as disheartening. She said she spent her first day outdoors and was only placed in temporary accommodation around 1am.
“We spend the whole day on the street, then at night, we are taken to temporary accommodation. We sleep for a few hours and are sent back outside again until midnight or even later,” she told reporters, adding that she often keeps her phone off to avoid worrying her family.
Mavimba, like many others, is determined to continue her studies despite the challenges, expressing her desire to improve her life and support her family.
“We are students. We have classes going on right now. But we are here because we have to support the hundreds of students who don’t have anywhere to go.”
Yandisa Mrwebi, registered student and student leader of Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (PASMA), explained that student leaders have been forced to wake up during early hours of the morning until very late morning hours throughout the week, negotiating for places to stay for students overnight.
“Some of them have never slept outside, some have never slept on a bare floor until they arrived on this campus. To come from home and then come and sleep on the floor while your parents think you are studying, it has really hit some of them,” he said.
In response, CPUT has denied that students are being left to sleep outside overnight and insists it is doing everything possible to accommodate those in need.
University spokesperson Lauren Kansley said the institution has placed around 400 students in temporary housing this week to avoid them sleeping outside, and maintains that it has enough overall residence capacity.
“These are individuals who have arrived without having a residence place secured or confirmed, and we are doing what we can to assist them.”
Kansley also noted that some students arrive without having applied for accommodation in advance, placing additional strain on the system, and said that eligibility requirements (such as academic progression and funding status) affect placement outcomes.
Professor Labby Ramrathan from the School of Education at the University of Education explained how the demand for education has increased over time, while the availability of universities for students has remained stagnant
“What we are seeing now is the result of an expanding population of learners who want to access higher education, but a rather stagnant public higher education system in terms of accommodating the higher demand for access to public higher education.
“Much of it is that there are students who completed matric, learners who took a gap year or two, and are coming back, but the available spaces remain the same. There is always competition for spaces at universities in the country.”
Ramnarath argued that the lack of expansion of higher education is the cause for incidents affecting students, who end up without a place outside universities.
“What is being realised nationally and globally is that we cannot cope with the demand for higher education. Which means that there will be consistent competition to get into institutions, and with no job opportunities for matriculants and no post-school opportunities sufficient enough to accommodate learners, it creates a worsening situation.”
He added that there is a sense of responsibility that students who are in these precarious environments should take.
“This is because of the demand for spaces. Institutions can’t hold spaces. Responsiveness becomes crucial in the process because not responding in the timeframe could result in a place being given to someone who was on the waitlist.”
The Department of Higher Education confirmed that they are aware of what is happening at CPUT and that the matter was discussed on Thursday.
“Both CPUT and NSFAS are attending to it,” said the spokesperson of the department, Matshepo Seedat.
lilita.gcwabe@inl.co.za
