Students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) have threatened to shut the institution down. They are calling on the university to address the accommodation challenges being faced by students.
The CPUT Students’ Representative Council (SRC) has accused the institution of underplaying the challenges being faced by students. They say at least 200 students don’t have accommodation.
CPUT Deputy Vice Chancellor of Operations Gilingwe Mayende says students without accommodation are mostly returning students. They add that some may be academically or financially excluded which is why they are not able to access the institution.
Mayende says the university is prioritising first-time entering students as they need accommodation.
They explained, “We are really prioritising the first entering students who are our first years because some of them come from far away in the country and need assistance.”
They explained that rooms have been made available for students while they work to resolve the challenges. The Vice Chancellor acknowledged that the current arrangement “is not the best arrangement'’.
SRC member Ramano Mpfunzeni says it's wrong to call the situation under control. This is because many students remain without accommodation.
They said, “We are still having a lot of students who are not accommodated so we can't just say the institution is under control. It is not under control.”
Mpfunzeni says many students are currently staying in the campus student centre and sports hall.
Deputy Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela called on university managers to engage with student leadership as it will allow them to find solutions to the current challenges facing students.
We have 26 universities — 23 of those, have commenced with learning and teaching quite peacefully, [It] doesn't mean that there are no issues but it means that both students and management in those institutions have found ways in which they can resolve this crisis
Manamela also called on student leadership to find constructive ways in which they can resolve issues. They acknowledged that while students are allowed to protest, they must respect the property of the institutions.
Student protests have disrupted classes at several universities and forced institutions to take teaching and learning online.
