Durban - The University of KwaZulu-Natal is to probe how hundreds of its students came to spend the night on the pavement in Durban’s city centre, and has apologised “unreservedly” for the “unacceptable” incident.
The students protested against the situation and disrupted lectures on the Howard College campus on Monday.
This was despite an undertaking from the student housing department to move them and house them all under one roof on Monday night, and to finalise its search for suitable permanent accommodation by Friday.
The students were no happier when they learnt they would all be moved to the Impala Holiday Flats on the beachfront.
“We want proper and permanent accommodation; we are tired of being moved from one place to another,” one student said.
The university’s residence department told students who were put up in the Downtown Lodge, Wyham Hotel and Palm Beach Hotel that they would all be taken to the Impala Holiday Flats at 5pm on Monday.
But who was to blame for the original botch-up with their accommodation is unclear.
The group of more than 500 students were first moved from their off-campus university residences to the Coastlands Hotel in Pixley ka Seme (West) Street. This they had to move out of to be moved to the Royal Hotel, which said it had no record of their intended stay.
They were eventually settled into various hotels in the early hours of Saturday.
UKZN has remained adamant it had an agreement with the owner of the Royal Hotel, which was not upheld by its management which refused to accommodate the students.
It said on Monday the reason the students were living in the Coastlands Hotel in the first place was their previous landlord had not paid the water and lights bill.
Moses Motsa, who owns the Royal Hotel, denied there was an agreement.
“The university approached me, looking for accommodation for the students, but I put them on to management,” Motsa said, adding no agreement had been reached.
Hotel director Lionel Reid said there had been no bookings, contracts or confirmation.
The Mercury