UWC Students Kicked Out of Res with Nowhere to Go, University Says Students Knew About Evictions in Advance

• Students from the University of Western Cape have been experiencing mass evictions since Friday, 17 December
• Some students have claimed that they were given until Tuesday to vacate the premises or they would be forcibly removed
• The University, however, says students received notice about the evictions at the beginning of the month

CAPE TOWN - University of Western Cape students have been left feeling disgruntled after they were instructed to leave their campus residences.

The students say they were left to fend for themselves and were not given money for food or accommodation.

The students who were kicked out normally spend their holiday on campus, however, the university told them that they needed to leave to make room for maintenance, according to a News24 report.

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Despite this notice to leave their campus residence, students say they are not going to leave as instructed even though some students have stated that evictions began on Friday, 17 December and carried on throughout the weekend.

Brumilda Bruintjies, a Master's student at the university, says when she tried to return to campus on Monday, the campus security would not let her and other students enter the premises.

They were only allowed to get back on campus after the police spoke to the security, however, Bruintjies says the security guards told them that if they didn't leave the premises by Tuesday, they would be removed with force.

UWC says students knew about evictions in advance

The university has explained it took the decision to shut down the campus because of the Covid19 mandatory vaccination policy, which will kick off in 2022.

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Gasant Abarder, UWC spokesperson, says despite what is being said about the evictions, students had prior knowledge that they would happen, reports EWN. Abrader says the notice to close the university was circulated to all students on 2 December.

Abrader stated that exceptions would only be made for students who would need access to the labs to do their work. He added that the university also made provisions for alternative accommodation and offered transportation to the private res.

Students would be charged R75 per day to stay at the private res, which some say they cannot afford.

Source: Briefly News