Alice, Eastern Cape — Students at the University of Fort Hare staged a street protest to demand urgent action over what they describe as years of severe infrastructure decay in their on-campus residences, citing leaking roofs, broken windows, dysfunctional lighting, absent stoves, and a sanitation crisis that has left a persistent stench throughout their living quarters.
The demonstrators said the university’s infrastructure and maintenance department has long exposed them to dilapidated housing conditions, and that repeated pleas to institutional management went unanswered — ultimately forcing them onto the streets to amplify their demands.
“Sewage Is a Norm”
Student leader Sinovuyo Ngqwangi painted a stark picture of daily life in the residential precinct, saying conditions had deteriorated to a point where even basic habitability was in question.
“It’s no different than if you can see the pictures we are living in — and even hostels are much better,” Ngqwangi said. “We are living in conditions whereby sewage is a norm. Leaking roofs, no windows, no stoves, no lights. The situation is so bad.”
Students stressed that it was the prolonged delay in addressing these challenges that pushed them to protest publicly.
University Acknowledges “Years of Neglect”
Responding to the outcry, the university’s Director of Properties, Buhle Shandu, conceded that the institution is grappling with a substantial backlog of residential repairs and upgrades.
“You talk about maintenance — we are using a term that doesn’t really fit properly, because we have a state of disrepair, a state of years, many years of neglect, many years of backlog,” Shandu said. He added, however, that significant work was underway behind the scenes: “Something that may not be visible on your end, but from our end, a lot is being done.”
Security Services Also Under-Resourced
The infrastructure crisis appears to extend beyond student housing. Head of Security Services Daniel Steyn revealed that campus security officers have been operating without essential equipment, a shortfall he attributed to the previous administration’s failure to procure basic resources.
“I applied for radios, I applied for uniforms, I applied for vehicles — I applied for everything for them to do proper security,” Steyn said. He indicated that the requested equipment is expected to arrive in the last quarter of the year, noting: “The previous management did not ask for any uniform, no radios, no vehicles, no nothing. We inherited this security here.”
Repair Truck Promised
In an immediate concession to the protesting students, university management pledged that a repair truck would be deployed to the campus before the close of business on the day of the demonstration.
Students, however, say lasting structural intervention — not a single vehicle — is what is needed to end what they describe as years of neglect at one of South Africa’s historic institutions.
