Students Protest Their “Dire” Accommodation Outside SONA

Hundreds of bags and suitcases lined the gates outside CPUT’s Cape Town campus as students still waiting for accommodation protested amid the State of the Nation Address last night. They say they’ve been forced to sleep outside and in halls for weeks.

• CPUT students protested on Thursday to highlight the ongoing accommodation crisis at the institution.
• Many have no choice but to sleep in a student centre, disability hall, or outdoors.
• Delays in NSFAS payments, along with accommodation caps and high private rental costs in Cape Town, have exacerbated the student housing issue.
• An advocacy group warned that NSFAS’s mismanagement is fueling dropouts, mental health struggles, and worsening financial strain on students and their families.

Over 200 Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) students still waiting for accommodation gathered a stone-throw away from where President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the City Hall on Thursday night. They highlighted the ongoing accommodation crisis at the institution. The students returned to picket at the gates of the university on Friday morning.

This is not the first time this problem has hit the institution.

The current crisis goes back to 2023 when Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande reduced the National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s (NSFAS) accommodation cap from R60,000 to R45,000 per year.

Last year, he introduced new limits: private accommodation funding was capped at R50,000 in metro areas and R41,000 elsewhere, while students in institution-managed housing could receive up to R66,500 in metros and R57,500 in other areas.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) repeatedly warned that NSFAS’s mismanagement of student accommodation funding would lead to unrest. Nearly a year ago, OUTA urged NSFAS to allow universities to manage student housing while it addressed its operational failures.

OUTA said on 20 January, that the Private Student Housing Association (PSHA) threatened not to reopen accommodation for returning students unless NSFAS settled the R44-million owed for 2024. OUTA’s Rudie Heyneke cautioned that this would result in a nationwide crisis. Despite NSFAS reporting a R23-billion surplus in 2022/23, landlords remain unpaid, leading to a severe shortage of accredited housing, Heyneke said.

This has left students in dire conditions.

Students sleep in university’s corridors

At CPUT, hundreds of students have been forced to sleep in a student centre, hallways and even outside due to a lack of available campus housing.

Student activist Manyange Luphindo described the worsening conditions: “Students have been sleeping here for three weeks. Every day, student numbers are taken, and they are promised placement, but we see the same faces here.”

He said most of the unhoused students come from different provinces and have nowhere else to go. “Some of these students’ parents gave them their last money to send them here, but this is their standard of living. It’s very sad to see, and this is what we deal with each year at CPUT,” he said.

Students also criticised the government’s handling of the crisis. Second-year student Mihlali Kona, from East London, said, “The situation inside is dire. Students are sleeping on the floor, and it’s very cold. It’s been two weeks now, and we have not been placed. [CPUT] said they are [at] capacity, and those of us who aren’t placed must find alternative accommodation. But private accommodation in Cape Town is very expensive. They want R9,000 for a deposit. Where must we get that? Our parents are not working.”

Some students have also fallen victim to scammers posing as landlords. “Many desperate students, especially first years, get scammed. Their accommodation ends up being a garage. In my case last year, a sewage pipe burst in my room, and I had to use all my lab coats to block the shit,” said Kona.

Students argue that the crisis directly contradicts the government’s claims about infrastructure investment.

During the SONA, Ramaphosa stated that 12 blended finance projects worth nearly R38-billion had been approved, including those for student accommodation. (A blended finance project includes public funding and private sector investment.) However, students say their reality tells a different story. “This is the real state of the nation,” said Kona.

“Whatever Ramaphosa was talking about inside there does not reflect what is happening on the ground. Students are suffering,” he said.

Opposite the CPUT campus in Cape Town, dozens of police officers monitored the demonstration.

CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley denied that the students had slept in the hall for weeks. “It has only become occupied from this week because classes begin in earnest from Monday.”

Kansley said CPUT has increased its bed count this year by 1,000 beds and can house 16,200 students. She said the institution received roughly 80,000 residence applications and over half a million applications for study. “This shows the massive demand for a place to study at our university particularly.”

“We are simply unable to house everyone,” said Kansley.

She said hundreds of students hoping to secure residence have had their “pending” status moved to “accepted”, “thanks to a round-the-clock drive from CPUT”. She said staff have been calling students who have not confirmed their acceptance of residence rooms to ascertain if the space can be reallocated.

Kansley added that only students who applied for residence are being processed, and no walk-ins are being considered.

Clotilde Angelucci from Youth Capital, an advocacy campaign running a national survey on students’ NSFAS experiences, said, “Emerging themes from [the] survey suggest the link between NSFAS delayed payments, academic dropout and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. These themes are confirmed by 2024 research that points out how NSFAS is hitting the poorest of the poorest, pushing their families even further into a cycle of debt.”

She added that while Ramaphosa emphasised a renewed focus on skills development, students needed a funding system that was “reliable, transparent and practices prompt communication. They are currently paying the highest price”.

NSFAS issued a statement on Thursday urging landlords not to demand deposits or additional payments from NSFAS-funded students. The organisation reminded landlords that its lease agreement explicitly prohibits such charges.

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