Build student digs not RDP houses, ANCYL tells Dept of Human Settlements

The youth league made this call on Wednesday during a march to the Department of Higher Education and Training in Pretoria.

Students at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) block the main entrance of the institution in protest over a number of issues on 11 February 2019. Picture: Thando Kubheka/EWN

Robinson Nqola | 3 days ago

JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress (ANC) Youth League has called on the Department of Human Settlements to prioritise student accommodation ahead of RDP houses.

The youth league made this call on Wednesday during a march to the Department of Higher Education and Training in Pretoria.

Members of the organisation, together with the Progressive Youth Alliance, marched against a lack of student accommodation and also demanded that historical debt be scrapped to allow students to register.

The ANC Youth League in Tshwane challenged the Department of Human Settlements to restructure its budget.

The league says that it cannot be in the interest of development for the department to use a big chunk of its budget to build RDP houses while students have no accommodation.

The youth league's Lesego Makhubela: "Where do you think the students must sleep? Where do you think these students must be accommodated?"

Meanwhile, the league has threatened to shut down all tertiary institutions in the capital if the Higher Education Department fails to respond to its demands by Friday.

They have also threatened to mobilise a nationwide march to the Union Building next week to escalate their concerns with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

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Build student digs not RDP houses, ANCYL tells Dept of Human Settlements

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