WATCH: Fiasco at Eastern Cape varsities laid bare

A dire shortage of student accommodation has reached crisis proportions at universities and colleges in the Eastern Cape.

Thousands of students are living in squalor, crammed into small spaces and surviving without the most basic of services – running water, sanitation and electricity.

In March, thousands of University of Fort Hare (UFH) students on the East London campus forfeited three weeks of their academic programme when they embarked on a stayaway over their miserable or non-existent accommodation.

Three Walter Sisulu University campuses also closed as thousands of students demanded decent accommodation.

At King Hintsa College’s Centane campus students have been boycotting classes since February 14, after a student renting a house at Kwanombanjana village was raped.

Academic studies have been on-off at Buffalo City College’s John Knox Bokwe campus in Mdantsane’s NU1.

National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) spokesman Kagisho Mamabolo said their role was to make funds available for qualifying students.

“Qualifying students who have been identified as eligible for student housing in terms of the university’s student housing policy, but due to limited residence space cannot be accommodated in university managed accommodation, may be eligible for an allowance for suitable off-campus private accommodation after official confirmation from the university that the student qualifies,” he said.

He said NSFAS could not be involved in accommodation beyond this funding imperative, saying: “Our role is to make sure that funding is disbursed to the university to allow them to allocate accommodation space.”

According to a report from a ministerial committee looking into the provision of housing for students at South African universities, UFH’s Alice campus is located in an impoverished area which has a severe shortage of suitable accommodation for residents, let alone students.

It states that such universities ideally need to be able to accommodate a minimum of 80% of total student enrolment in on-campus accommodation in the short to medium timeframe, and 100% in the long-term.

The report indicated that out of 535000 students, only 107598 from 22 South African universities had accommodation.

In 2016, the department said the University of Fort Hare had 3494 beds, while Walter Sisulu University had 4848. These excluded private residences.