DUT student sleep outside as housing crisis continues

18 February 2017 - 14:34 By Jeff Wicks
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
DUT students had to sleep on the streets on Friday night as an accommodation crisis at the institution continues.
DUT students had to sleep on the streets on Friday night as an accommodation crisis at the institution continues.
Image: Supplied

Destitute Durban University of Technology students spent another night on the streets as a housing crisis at the institution wears on.

Nokwanda Mhlongo‚ the leader of a group of students without accommodation‚ said they were locked out of temporary accommodation on Friday night. This as the university scrambles to source housing for well over 1‚000 students.

  • Students to blame for housing shortage - DUTMore than 1 000 Durban University of Technology (DUT) students without accommodation have themselves to blame‚ the institution said. They didn’t applied for it. 

Pictures sent to TMG Digital show the students outside one of the institution's residences. Earlier in the week they even camped out on the steps of the main campus administration block‚ with mattresses and luggage lining the steps.

DUT students had to sleep on the streets on Friday night as an accommodation crisis at the institution continues.

Mhlongo said: "I am far from home and I am not the only one. We have not bathed in days. Where can I go? We will stay here until they decide to deal with us."

The university has blamed the situation on the students themselves‚ saying that the 1‚131 without accommodation had not applied for student housing - a claim the students deny.

  • Bed shortage crisis at university - 'No student will sleep alone tonight'Four Durban University of Technology students were last week forced to share a single bed at a residence as a housing crisis at the university persists.  

“Some of the major challenges we faced as a university with regard to planning for this matter is that we did not know how many students were receiving full NSFAS [National Student Financial Aid Scheme] packages as these were only confirmed in recent weeks. We also cannot control the fact that 1‚131 students‚ who are now demanding housing after registration‚ did not apply for student accommodation‚” DUT said in a statement.

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now