Johannesburg - A group of students at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) spent Sunday night out in the cold after being evicted from the student society offices where they had been sleeping since the start of the semester in February.
“It happened just after 12 o'clock this morning. A lot of bouncers came in and forced us out. It was freezing cold,” said Ofentse Seshabela.
While a friend took him in to sleep in his room, UJ interim chairman for the Pan African Students’ Movement of Azania Mokgweetsi Keikabile and other students were not so lucky.
“I had nowhere to sleep last night and I have to go write a test now. How am I supposed to do that?” Keikabile said.
Student Thabatso Makhe sat on a bench on Monday morning with his blanket outside the Student Society offices.
"When we found the offices closed we went to the protection services office we were told that because we are in the same building as the auditorium that was burnt it had to be closed because it could collapse," he said.
He said he had been living in the EFF Student Association office because he couldn't afford residence fees.
"They knew we were living in the offices and did not give us warning," he said.
He said there was a list of 50 students who did not have accommodation.
"We gave the list to the vice-chancellor, Ihron Rensburg , who is yet to do anything and our main concern are the girls who do not have accommodation and are sleeping outside," he said.
Seshabelo said as long as the students who were evicted from the offices are sleeping outside then they were not prepared to talk to the vice-chancellor.
Seshabela said they were intimidated and told to leave immediately. He claims that as they did so, one of the students was mugged and stabbed outside the campus by thieves.
Seshabela said some students were able to get back on to the campus but had to sleep outside.
UJ spokesman Godfrey Helani denied that students were evicted when contacted on Monday morning, saying he would send a detailed statement later.
Helani had not done so by the time of going to print. - Additional reporting by Olivia Exstrum and Rumana Akoob
@lanc_02
The Star