THE MERCURY
University of KwaZulu-Natal law student Bright Mabaso will pack his bags for the fourth time this year as he moves to new accommodation on Thursday. Picture: Gcina Ndwalane
Durban –
University of KwaZulu Natal students face the prospect of being put out into the street again, after management staff from their temporary accommodation on Tuesday issued them with notices to leave the building.
Hundreds of students staying at Impala Holiday Flats received “check-out reminders” instructing them to vacate their rooms by 10am on Thursday so staff could prepare for “incoming guests”.
The general manager of Impala Holiday Flats, Johan van der Spuy, said the university had been told the students would have to leave on that date, and he had communicated that to the university on several occasions.
“When the university made the booking for the students until March 21 they were made aware… that we had existing bookings,” said Van der Spuy.
But according to affected students, they had not been told about the arrangement, and many were shocked to receive the notification.
A second-year student staying at the flats, Bright Mabaso, said he had no idea where they would move to next.
“The university has not let us know where we are going; at the moment they have not told us anything,” he said.
Mabaso said the university should have notified the students of the need to move, not the building’s management.
“The university has failed dismally. We paid close to R20 000 (for accommodation) and we are not getting any services,” he said.
The move from Impala Holiday Flats would be his fourth this year, after having stayed in temporary housing twice previously, following problems with the permanent residence.
University spokesman Nomonde Mbadi said the check-out notices were standard hotel procedure to inform guests of when they had to leave, and the university was fully aware that students would have to leave on Thursday. “The accommodation matter is a priority at the university and we are hopeful that a permanent solution will be in place soon,” she said.
Previous miscommunications resulted in students spending a night in the street the Friday before last, after they were turned away from the Royal Hotel.
The hotel’s management had barred them from entering after the university reportedly secured a deal for accommodation.
On the university’s Durban campus, protests continued yesterday, but were quickly quelled by police. Students set a tyre alight and filled it with sticks and leaves as they gathered before 9am, preparing to march through the campus.
Angered by the lack of progress, the students vowed to continue the protest despite a court interdict prohibiting them from doing so.
Carrying rocks and bricks the protesters began marching, but scattered when police confronted them.
One student was arrested and taken in for questioning, said police spokesman Thulani Zwane.
The Mercury
