LIMPOPO – As the dream of establishing a Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) campus in Giyani inches closer to reality, concerns are surfacing about the university’s potential admission criteria.

Many community members are drawing comparisons to the admission practices of the local Giyani Nursing College, which they claim tend to favour students from outside the area over local applicants.

This sentiment is raising worries among residents who fear that the new TUT campus might adopt similar policies, leaving local students at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing higher education opportunities.

These concerns were highlighted recently during the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) representative forum, where numerous stakeholders from the Giyani community voiced their frustrations directly to the mayor of Giyani, Thandi Zitha.

They asked her to clarify the admission criteria used by Giyani Nursing College, emphasising that the community is keen to avoid a repeat of these alleged practices at the upcoming TUT campus.

“Before we address the matter of the TUT campus, we need to first tackle the issue with the nursing college,” said David Chauke, a representative of the Giyani Community Development Forum.

“It seems admissions are centralised in Polokwane, so our local students end up not being accommodated, despite the college being based here. Today, we’re crying about the shortage of nurses in our clinics, but how can we expect to have enough nurses when our own local nursing college isn’t admitting students from our community?” he continued, calling for transparent admission policies that prioritise local students.

In response, Zitha stated that the municipality does not have the authority to dictate who should be admitted to the college. “However, if the community establishes a structure to monitor the admissions process, it can have a voice in admissions through constructive engagement with the college and the Department of Health,” she said.

Meanwhile the Department of Health did not respond to questions on clarity about the admission criteria used by Giyani Nursing College. Calls and WhatsApp messages left to spokersperson, Neil Shikwambani went unanswered.

With regard to the TUT campus, Zitha said admissions will be open to everybody and that the municipality cannot prevent students from other area. She instead urged parents to encourage their kids to apply to study there.

“As much as we wish for local students to be prioritised when TUT opens, people must understand that TUT falls under higher education. As a municipality, we do not have a say in how it admits students. Only existing structures can monitor and influence its operations,” she said.

“Our plea to the residents of Giyani is to use constructive ways to voice their demands. We will support any group that approaches us peacefully to discuss any issues that need addressing. However, we do not support people who wake up and block roads when they have problems,” she continued.

The mayor urged parents to guide their children and explain the benefits of studying locally, including saving on accommodation costs.

“From my experience, however, many of our young people may not want to attend a local university, as some might already have plans to study far from home,” she said, urging parents not to support these choices.