CPUT dismisses claims it’s left hundreds of students stranded outside District Six Campus

CAPE TOWN - Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) has rubbished claims that it's left hundreds of students outside the District Six Campus stranded.

This came after more than 350 students with luggage bags and blankets were locked outside the institution's gates on Friday.

The students, gathered outside the CPUT's District Six Campus complained of being ignored by the institution's management since the first week of January.

The students said they had been sleeping in student halls without a clear direction about being placed in a residence.

Some students said security staff removed them from the premises after they complained about slow progress in housing allocations.

The institution's spokesperson, Lauren Kansley, denied that students have been left in the cold and said many students attempt to bypass processes for enrolment and housing placements.

"We are doing our utmost to assist where we can, and this week hundreds of students hoping to secure residence have had their pending status moved to accepted. 

“Thanks to around-the-clock drive from our staff members who have been calling students who have not confirmed their status of res-rooms [resident’s rooms] to ascertain if the space can be re-allocated."

Meanwhile, the Student Representative Committee (SRC) at the institution said accommodation crisis had become a norm at CPUT.

It said the institution had failed to allocate accommodation to deserving students over the past three weeks, leading to them being stranded.

CPUT’s SRC spokesperson, Lihle Mgxushuwa, said most students who have been left for cold are registered for the current academic year.

"What they said they were going to do was that they were going to take students that are placed to capacity, of which those are the students that have been here the longest because their issue was not attended to. 

“They are going to take them and place them at a temporary accommodation by Salt River, yes. I'm not sure what is going to happen to those that are not funded as of yet."

CPUT, meanwhile, said an additional challenge is that students flock to its campuses without being confirmed for accommodation or enrolment.