Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is outraged by the unacceptable conditions uncovered during an unannounced oversight West Coast College, Vredendal campus.
The residence, housing more than 400 students, many of whom are funded by NSFAS at an estimated R45 000 per student per year is nothing short of a disgrace. Students are crammed eight to a room, with some housed in shipping containers repurposed as accommodation.
The DA will submit parliamentary questions to establish how NSFAS accredits such residences and why institutions place students in these inhumane conditions.
These conditions are not conducive:
- Twenty students forced to share just two showers, with no warm water since June.
- Grossly inadequate ablution facilities, in unhygienic states.
- Dysfunctional appliances, with broken stoves and microwaves leaving hundreds of students unable to prepare food on time and properly.
- No laundry facilities
- No Wi-Fi at the facilities, students must walk to campus to work and yet computer labs there close at 4pm.
South Africa cannot claim to invest in education while students are left to live in containers without hot water, broken stoves, and overcrowded, unhygienic facilities. Students deserve safe, dignified housing.
The DA will continue to fight to ensure that every cent of student funding directly benefits students.
Regards
Matlhodi Maseko MP
DA Spokesperson on Higher Education & Training