Students and workers at Umfolozi TVET College’s Mandeni Campus have shut down the school in protest over unpaid salaries and worsening campus conditions.

Security guard and protest leader Nobuhle Nxumalo said they had not received salaries since January.

“We have families to feed and other commitments are lapsing because of this,” she said.

The protest, now entering its second week, has allegedly been met with silence from the college’s management, despite growing frustration from both staff and students.

“We want to know why we are hired by the school to render services when they have no budget for it,” said Nxumalo.

The Student Representative Council (SRC) has also submitted a damning memorandum to the campus manager, citing deteriorating academic performance, mismanagement, and poor infrastructure.

However, one of the SRC representatives told the Courier that students who raised concerns allegedly faced intimidation and some had been expelled from the campus.

“We do not have textbooks and no classes are conducted – we only see the classroom when we have to write tests,” he said.

This has resulted in high academic failure, they said.

Among other issues raised are broken toilets, textbook shortages, minimal learning tools and rights violations.

The SRC has called for the campus manager to resign, stating that a leadership change is critical to restoring trust and academic integrity.

“We believe it is in the best interest of the students and the institution for a change in leadership to address these longstanding problems,” they said.

They have demanded a formal response from campus management no later than May 14.

The Umfolozi TVET College Mandeni Campus manager was not reachable at the time of print.

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