[DEBATE] : (Fwd) DUT grievances

[Patrick Bond]

DUT riots: students speak out
12 February 2008, 09:52

Broken toilets, holes in ceilings, water leaking through cracked walls, 
and poor recreational and study facilities are some of the issues that 
have pushed students at the Durban University of Technology over the edge.

They are particularly annoyed about the accommodation problems because 
they pay annual residence fees of R10 495 and semester residence fees of 
R5 247.50.

Angry students caused the institution to close last week after a violent 
protest on Monday. That was one of at least five demonstrations at the 
institution during the past two weeks.

After speaking to a few students it became clear that although they had 
highlighted a list of grievances, allegations of poor accommodation and 
badly administered student loans topped the complaints.

The Mercury visited the three residences that were the most complained 
about this week to investigate whether the allegations were true.

The worst, according to students, is Berea Res, on the university's 
Steve Biko Campus.

We were escorted by a student (he refused to be named for fear of 
victimisation) who lived in the men's quarters on the campus. He said he 
wanted people to know why they were angry.

"The toilets are pathetic. Not even worthy of a dog," he said as he 
directed us to toilets on different floors that did not flush.

"The pipes in the bathrooms leak and the doors that are supposed to seal 
the bathroom area off are broken. There is also no hot water in one 
bathroom," he said.

Another student led The Mercury to his room, a tiny room about the size 
of a standard bathroom.

"This is supposed to be a living area. It used to be a communal kitchen, 
but then the university stopped students from cooking on the premises 
and it was converted into a room. I can barely move around in here," he 
said.

The Mercury was led to a room set up as a television room for students. 
It is a square room, measuring 16 feet. One student described it as a 
"joke".

"You can see this used to be an old storage room. There are no windows 
in here, and all they have done is thrown in a couple of old plastic 
chairs," he said.

This article was originally published on page 6 of The Mercury on 
February 12, 2008