‘Afghanistan’ – the doomed TUT students’ living quarters
TUT students are living at Afghanistan because they don’t have other means of accommodation.
Students at Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT) Soshanguve campus are living in horrendous conditions at a hellhole known as “Afghanistan”.
Overcrowding at formal student residences provided by the university has seen large numbers of students occupying a decaying building in central in block H, commonly known as Afghanistan.
There is no clean water or sanitation, the grass is unkempt, the rooms are dark and filthy with broken windows. The building has no electricity.
The dilapidated shell of a building used to be a hostel for the Transvaal college of education students.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Classes at TUT Soshanguve campus resume
First-year language practice student Thabang Kolobe imagined life at tertiary differently.
Kolobe, originally from Modjadjiskloof in Limpopo, applied at TUT after completing matric in 2016 with the hope of changing his background.
He was only accepted for study while his residence application was pending.
Both his parents depend on part-time jobs to make ends meet, which made renting off-campus nearly impossible.
For fear of disappointing his parents, Kolobe took up a friend’s offer to stay at Afghanistan in a crowded room with five other students.
“This place is not safe at all. You sleep with one eye open,” Kolobe told Rekord.
“It is difficult to study sometimes, because we are five in one room and the conditions of this building seem like it might collapse any time.”
Kolobe’s situation is not an isolated case.
Second-year education student Tshenolo Kgapane said financial circumstances also forced him to find accommodation at the doomed building.
“Last year I was able to afford rent with the money my parents sent. They are both unemployed so it is difficult to continue to rent,” said Kgapane.
He said he regularly checked on his residence application, which had been pending since 2017.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Classes at TUT Soshanguve campus resume
Douglas Rikhotso said he had been visiting the student residence administration office with no luck.
“I go to the res admin almost every week to check my status, but still nothing has changed,” said the education student, who also resides at Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, student bodies shut down both campuses for almost two weeks demanding the allocation of residences for first-year students, as plenty of students were sleeping at the campus stadium.
Student representative council president Katlego Makyobola said work to resolve issues around accommodation was ongoing.
Newly appointed TUT Soshanguve campus rector Professor Elsabe Coetzee said she was working “tirelessly on the burning issue of not having sufficient accredited accommodation”.
“We are now succeeding in accrediting accommodation outside of Soshanguve,” said Coetzee.
“There is just not enough private accommodation that complies with prescribed minimum standards. These standards are not only set by TUT but also by national student fund aid scheme that is paying for the majority of our students.”
She said if accommodation was outside Soshanguve, TUT also needed to provide bus transportation for the students.
“We are currently finalising accommodation about 30km from the campus for about 170 students,” said Coetzee.
ALSO READ: TUT students establish NGO to help matriculants
“Another 200 students will be accommodated in block K at Soshanguve North.”
Work to construct a new residence for 200 students at Soshanguve South was expected to commence towards the end of 2018.
Residence administrator Mavis Nkomzwayo said: “We were not aware that some students resided at Afghanistan.
“We are working on taking out students who are doing one module, to create space for full-time students.
“We are doing the best we can to accommodate students.”
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