By Marcus Moloko
Scores of students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) are staging a picket roughly 100 metres from the Cape Town City Hall while President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The protest, held roughly 100 metres from the venue, highlighted the growing student housing crisis.
Many demonstrators carried luggage, blankets, and placards, saying they had nowhere to sleep after being evicted from residences earlier in the day.
Students claim they have been left homeless due to ongoing evictions from university residences.
CPUT declared its residences full earlier this month, directing thousands of students to seek private accommodation.
Reports from SABC News and Daily Maverick revealed that many students, particularly from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, have been sleeping on pavements and in campus hallways while awaiting placements.
The protesters are demanding urgent intervention from government, citing unresolved funding issues and the lack of stable student housing. They are reportedly waiting for feedback from Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela following Ramaphosa’s address.
“We are carrying our bags because we have nowhere to go tonight. We want answers, not promises,” one student told reporters at the scene.
A heavy police guard blocked the students’ path, keeping them approximately 100 metres away from the president’s address at City Hall.
This picket follows a week of escalating tensions at CPUT. Earlier in February, the university confirmed that its residences had reached capacity, leaving thousands without accommodation. The crisis has intensified as evictions continued, with students forced out of housing even on the day of the SONA.
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