WATCH | WSU students unhappy with residences

Walter Sisulu University students fork out R3,400 for accommodation – sometimes in shoddy four-room houses – in Butterworth.

The dire shortage of student accommodation was again at the centre of student protests this week, causing WSU to close the Ibika campus indefinitely.

Four students share an old two-bedroom township house at Ibika township, paying R34,000 each a year.

In some residences those who pay for private accommodation pay R500 a month while the National Student Financial Aid Scheme-funded students pay R3,400.

Students allocated to the house have questioned how the university accredited a house that is far below standards set by the department of higher education & training for student accommodation.

Students at the Butterworth campus have been protesting since last Thursday, demanding, among other things better living conditions.

Third-year IT student Zanoxolo Dlamini said he did not believe an inspection had been done before the university approved the house.

“I feel like I am being robbed. The money I pay is way too much when one looks at the conditions we live in,” he said.

Dlamini is sharing the house with three other students.

They share a toilet and a shower.

The bathroom walls have mould while the toilet has unremovable stains.

The lounge – used as a study area – also has a TV, fridge and a stove. “Basically, while you are studying, someone is cooking and another one is watching TV, The set-up is just a mess.”

At Lumkwana residence in Zazulwana township, tourism management second year student Awethu Nduneni shares one toilet and a bathtub with nine other students.

“I am unhappy with these conditions. If someone takes a bath you can’t use the toilet. All our classes start around the same time so if I want to be on time I have to wake up much earlier,” she said.

The Dispatch also visited another residence that was still under construction.

The residence, according to SRC president Lihle Klaas, has students allocated to it.

“There is so much corruption in the process of accrediting these places. How can a university approve a place that is not even complete?

“Students who are supposed to be staying here are squatting with friends while others are renting,” he said.

Asked whether inspections were done on the residences before they were allocated to students, WSU spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo gave a broader response, saying the closure of the campus had caused delays on operations.

“Staff members cannot work normally when the campus is closed, including convening pre-inspection meetings and printing the necessary contracts and checklists. The campus closure has halted all normal operations,” she said.

Although campus remained closed, she said, they were negotiating for a peaceful opening “in order to address issues”.

However, by late Wednesday talks between the SRC and campus management had collapsed. The SRC walked out of the meeting in Butterworth. Campus is closed and it is unclear when classes will resume.