R1,4bn to upgrade student accommodation

Of this amount, Walter Sisulu University and the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape would each receive R120m to invest in proper student accommodation.

This is part of the R6bn that has been allocated to university infrastructure this year, of which R1.6bn has been ring-fenced for student accommodation.

A report commissioned in 2009 by Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, and released last year, found that at least R147bn was needed over the next 15 years to address a shortage in student housing at universities.

The ministerial committee found shocking conditions on their visits to universities such as students squatting in unhygienic residences, going to bed hungry and sharing small beds.

In a report presented to Parliament's committee on Thursday (7 March), the department of higher education and training said historically disadvantaged institutions would receive 85% of the money earmarked for the refurbishment of residences.

Briefing the committee, chief director of university financial planning and information systems at the department, Shai Makgoba, highlighted the need to regulate the standards that universities needed to follow with regards to accommodation.

Ministerial committee lead researcher and executive director of infrastructure, finance and operations at Rhodes University, Dr Iain L'Ange, said site visits to the 23 universities and their 49 campuses painted a "wild west scenario" of student housing.

Pictures presented to Parliament included one showing eight students sharing a double room at the University of Venda and a sewage-stained window at the same university.

"The sewage was etched into the glass. I was told it had been like that for 18 months. The stench was indescribable," he said.

L'Ange said the committee discovered that in one instance a security guard was filling the post of acting house warden. He could not immediately recall the name of the university.

In another, there was insufficient accommodation for students but a three floor, expensively built, car park at the university stood open. This was at one of the campuses of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

To address the problems, the department's recommendations included:

• That accommodation for first year students be prioritised. The study found that only 5% of first year students were able to be housed;
• Assessing residence management and administration;
• Partnering with the private sector to establish student villages, to address the dire shortage of on-campus accommodation;

• Policy to manage and monitor residence admissions and allocations.

Source: Sowetan via I-Net Bridge