DURBAN - SOME University of KwaZulu-Natal first-year students say they have been forced to sleep outside the gates of the university’s Pietermaritzburg campus due to a lack of accommodation.
UKZN student representative council (SRC) president Malusi Zuma said 277 registered students spent a night outside the gates of the institution on Wednesday because there were no spaces available for them.
Zuma said the SRC had confirmed that the registered first-year students did have access permits.
“We have appealed to the university management that they must identify more spaces/residences and beds within our existing buildings to assist our first-year students.”
A university employee, who did not want to be named, said the housing department wasn’t functioning at all.
He said the students had registered and their offers had included accommodation.
He said when the students got to the housing department, they were told that no spaces were available.
“Housing did not provide temporary residences to these students, they closed their doors and left.
“There was no place where the SRC could take the students and the choice they had was to sleep at the gate,” he said.
He also added that they had been working hard to get food for the students.
UKZN executive director of corporate relations, Normah Zondo, said student residence accommodation was full to capacity.
“Thus, no new students can be allocated a place at the residences due to this limitation.This has been communicated to all students.”
Zondo said students who had been allocated a place in university residences were notified via SMS and sent an email of their status.
“The staff at the department of student residence affairs (DSRA) are working tirelessly to contact first-time entering new students who have been allocated accommodation to provide them with assistance on the processes to follow after the allocation,” said Zondo.
She advised that students who hadn’t yet received official communication confirming allocation in residences to consider alternative options, like private accommodation.
She further indicated that the DSRA offices at its Pietermaritzburg and Westville campuses were closed to ensure safety of staff members and property following recent acts of violence and intimidation at the two campuses.
She said: “On Wednesday, staff members were held hostage at the Pietermaritzburg campus when approximately 100 individuals stormed the DSRA offices on campus. The group allegedly threatened staff members and effectively held them hostage by refusing to allow them to leave the building.
Zondo added that the incident led to the disruption in the placement of registered students at university residences.
She said these actions prejudiced some students as the affected staff members couldn’t continue with their duties after the incident.
THE MERCURY