Some of the Wits students who embarked on a protest this morning said they have been forced to sleep at libraries, as they cannot afford campus residence fees.
Jackson Mdluli, said they are being marginalised and this has been happening for months where students without accommodation have been sleeping in the Wits library while some slept outside ATMs.
BOwen Stuttgart said most of his classes were moved online due to protests and some students were denied access but that didn’t happen to him. However, he said he was unhappy with how the students conducted themselves.
“They have valid issues, many students are sharing one room, some are eight inside one room. I’m an NSFAS student myself and it does pay for everything, some portion of my accommodation I must pay from my pocket but I’m not happy with how they conducted themselves in doing these protests,” he said.
The SRC Compliance Officer Karabo Matlhoga said: “We are facing a crisis especially since NSFAS has been failing us for years. Looking at the funds the university has, they have been investing a lot on infrastructure but money can be used to fund the students”.
Matlhoga said more funds are needed for disadvantaged students and that the student body is looking at R30 million to be added towards the Wits Hardship (Fund) Accommodation to solve the problem.
The University has previously said it has increased the amount of funding allocated to students. In 2022 Wits disbursed over R1,6 billion to 26 161 students. In 2023, the University has committed R28 million (up from R10 million) to the Wits Hardship Fund, to assist academically deserving students to register.
However, Matlhoga warned that it’s evident it was not enough and that more money is needed to solve the problem especially because the financial rules of Wits University still excludes specific students even when they need to benefit from the Hardship Funds and the SRC Funds.
“We had 5 000 students who applied for SRC Funds and when you go by the list the funds get depleted because student debts are a serious matter and the list of homeless students is more than a thousand and it increases daily. Next we might have 2000 as there are those who have not reached out to the SRC as yet,” he said.
Wits University Spokesperson Shirona Patel said she was surprised students were protesting while the learning institution has been working with SRC to resolve these issues.
“Management has been working with the SRC over the past few weeks to help secure funding, largely from the private sector, to enable academically deserving students to access higher education. In fact, up until last night, officials were in contact with the SRC trying to get as many qualifying students to register as possible.
“It therefore comes as a surprise that despite these arrangements and the working relationship which has been established, some members of the SRC and some students have elected to protest. Wits has matched the R6,2 million brought in by the SRC rand for rand. In fact, there is a pot of R12,4 million available in the SRC Fund for qualifying students.
“To date over 500 students have been funded at a cost of R18.1 million.” Patel said this was in addition to R150 million that the university provides in scholarships to deserving students annually.
“The University has secured 350 beds from accredited private accommodation service providers to assist students in need, including those that have been sleeping in libraries and other spaces.
The university and private service providers are also navigating NSFAS’ decision to cap accommodation costs at R45,000 per annum, which is regrettable. Wits appealed the decision and lobbied for a differentiated approach that takes the real cost of accommodation into account.”
