Taxi fare, student accommodation, access to tertiary institutions and aggressive campus staff are just some of the issues college students in Nelson Mandela Bay are facing.
This came to light when DA MP Phumzile van Damme conducted an oversight inspection of campuses in the metro, helping students register and informing them about registering for the elections.
A tearful Khanyisa Maqabangqa, chair of the DA Student Organisation (Daso) at Eastcape Midlands College’s Heath Park campus in Bethelsdorp, said every year students who were on financial aid were blocked by the college and had to pay outstanding fees from their own pockets.
“I am the first in my family to further her studies and my mom had to go to a loan shark to take out R1,000 to pay the college [to] unblock me.
“My mother does not work and it’s January. A lot of parents don’t have the money to pay these amounts.
“We struggle to get taxi fare, let alone R1,000 so that we can study,” Maqabangqa said.
She alleged that students affiliated to Daso had been targeted by campus management and treated “aggressively”.
“I’m afraid to even raise concerns relating to students because I do not want to be expelled. Safety is an issue here because the fencing is not what it should be and you have gangsters who [come] on campus and rob students of their cellphones,” she said.
EMC spokesperson Elmari van der Merwe said the college was committed to offering all prospective students access to apply for programmes and to provide the best possible professional services during the registration process.
“The college was not notified of a visit by the DA MP and is investigating the allegations made against the Heath Park campus [manager].
“Other than cases where a minority of students’ accounts were blocked due to outstanding NSFAS exceptions on the system, registration at all campuses is running smoothly.
“The individual cases are addressed as a matter of urgency.
“All students are assisted to apply for bursaries to obtain funding towards their studies,” Van der Merwe said.
Meanwhile, PE College’s Russell Road campus had aspiring students waiting on the streets, the campus having locked its gates to prevent students from entering.
Students lined the streets. Some first-time applicants and others waited to see if their names had been shortlisted.
Sisanda Siqoko, an aspiring finance student from New Brighton, was among those outside the gate.
She said she had applied in November and had received an SMS confirming her application. She said she was told to come in on Thursday.
“When I got here I was not on the list and was told to come back tomorrow [Friday].
“I was told that 300 students applied but only 150 were accepted. They said I must come tomorrow and if those accepted have not pitched by [midday], I’ll be in,” Siqoko said.
Yonela Ngqwala, another first-time applicant, had hoped to register. “I really want to study so I hope they’ll accept me here, but I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.
Van Damme also visited the Unisa campus in Greenacres, but there were no students there due to a national Unisa shutdown. Campuses across the country have been shut as students make demands.
Van Damme’s inspection formed part of Daso’s Sakhi’ngomso campaign assisting students. She also encouraged them to register to vote for the upcoming general election.
Van Damme said on Tuesday the campaign helped with registration, proof of address and helping students with all they needed.
“The second part of this campaign is to encourage students to register to vote.
“The statistics for the 2014 general election showed that about 33% of young people turned out to vote – [so] a lot of people didn’t vote.
“A lot of young people are obviously disillusioned with politics and politicians,” Van Damme said.
NSFAS did not respond to media queries.