Extensions to the academic year will cost students up to R7000 a month‚ the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday. The party cited its “own research into living costs” at the universities of Cape Town‚ Witwatersrand‚ KwaZulu-Natal and Fort Hare that showed "a student staying off-campus would need an additional R6 590 to fund an extra month‚ while a resident student would need R3 980”.Rhodes SRC calls for boycott ‘whilst our fellow students are in jail’Rhodes University’s student representative council (SRC) called for a boycott of academic activities on Thursday‚ a day after what it described as “unprovoked acts of police brutality”. “Further knock-on costs such as travelling home and back to university by bus or plane‚ travelling back for rescheduled graduation ceremonies‚ or postponing starting accepted jobs‚ have not been included‚” said the DA’s Belinda Bozzoli. “None of these costs would have been budgeted for by students or their families. The extra cost will place an undue burden on those students who are already struggling to cover their living expenses.”The impact of this‚ she said‚ was greater for “poorer students living off-campus”.Bozzoli said that while the “DA shares the anger and frustration which so many young people are feeling around South Africa today”‚ it felt that “shutting down our university campuses is not the answer”.“This is why the DA once again calls on all South Africans to sign our online petition‚ which demands that our universities are re-opened‚” she added‚ referring to the party’s #OpenOurUniversities campaign. “Those who want to learn should have their constitutional rights respected. The truth is that a small group of students‚ bent on destruction and violence‚ are determined to keep our campuses shut. Their threats and intimidation have forced management to keep Wits‚ UCT and many others closed this week‚ in the crucial period leading up to exams.” ..