By Levy Masiteng
About 100 students at the University of the Western Cape marched on Thursday over poor residence conditions, as demonstrations unfolded during the institution’s mid-year examination period.
The students marched to the university’s main campus to demand urgent intervention over “poor living conditions” in campus residences.
Student leaders said the issues had been raised repeatedly with management since 2023, accusing the university of failing to act on complaints about poor maintenance, inadequate shower facilities, poor cooking conditions and unstable Wi-Fi connectivity at residences.
“We have been raising these issues for years, but nothing changes,” one student leader said during the march.
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Students said unstable internet access was affecting their ability to study and prepare for examinations.
They said that poor sanitation and overcrowded facilities were creating “unbearable” living conditions at a critical point in the academic calendar.
UWC students are currently writing mid-year assessments, placing additional pressure on university management to resolve the standoff quickly.
According to the university’s academic calendar, mid-year assessments began on 19 May and continue until 3 June.
EWN reported that examinations were continuing despite the protest, and that an attempt by some protesting students to disrupt exams on Thursday morning was quickly contained by university officials.
The protest followed earlier accommodation-related unrest at UWC this year.
In February, students shut down the campus over residence placements, with SRC president McIntosh Khasembe saying at the time that about 4,000 students still needed to be placed in residences.
Video footage published online showed students gathering on campus and marching in protest, with some demonstrations disrupting movement around university facilities.
Student representatives reportedly gave university management two days to address their grievances after a meeting held on Monday.
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UWC’s Residential Services division says its Student Housing section deals with physical infrastructure, services, maintenance and assets, while other sections handle placement, administration and residence life support.
But students insisted that maintenance failures and poor living standards had persisted despite repeated engagements with the university.
