Infestations of cockroaches and mice, cold showers, buildings situated next to nightclubs, poor maintenance, piles of rubbish and a lack of security — these are the conditions Nelson Mandela University students in Gqeberha are forced to live in at off-campus residences.
The students often have little choice but to stay at the residences as universities across SA continue to face a severe shortage of accommodation.
Students say that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has set them up for failure by delaying payments to residence owners, which hampers building maintenance, and then accrediting accommodation that fails to meet basic standards.
Gqeberha’s inner city hosts dozens of privately owned student accommodation buildings, many of which were modified to meet accreditation standards.
Some of these buildings are in congested, high-crime areas prone to muggings, while others share streets with taverns, raising concerns about student safety and wellbeing.
Residence fees vary by grading, with category A accommodation costing about R4,900 a month, while most residences typically charge about R4,000.
NSFAS spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi did not respond to telephone calls or WhatsApp messages.
NMU spokesperson Zandile Ngwendu said the university did not have direct oversight of NSFAS-accredited accommodation.
“However, we remain committed to engaging relevant stakeholders on all issues affecting students’ access and success,” she said.
Nelson Mandela University SRC president Lathitha Mbuzwana said issues at residences had been the same for several years.
“This leaves students academically affected,” Mbuzwana said.
“Students are being excluded from financial assistance by NSFAS, which does not do what it is supposed to and on time.
“The residence owners are struggling to pay their debts so they can serve students with a reliable Wi-Fi connection, fix stoves that are not working and ensure that there is hot water throughout the day as students attend classes at different times.
“They can’t do this when some have not been paid for months since last year.”
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The DA visited Oceanview in Govan Mbeki Avenue on Tuesday and launched a nationwide portal where students and property owners could lodge complaints as a result of NSFAS’s delayed payments.
The visit was attended by DA MPs Mathodi Maseko and Karabo Khakhau.
They were joined by the party’s Eastern Cape chair, Yusuf Cassim.
Maseko said the conditions discovered on Tuesday mirrored those at campuses across SA.
At residences visited by reporters on Tuesday, students said there was often no hot water.
They also complained about broken stoves.
One building had a computer lab with no PCs, desks or chairs.
The Premier Student Accommodation establishment in the Korsten area is a converted warehouse that accommodates about 1,000 students.
It is cold inside the building, which is infested with mice and cockroaches.
Student Vuyolwethu Gwadana, who lives there, said when they complained about mice and cockroaches, the manager said fumigation would be done when students left for the winter recess.
“We have been sitting with this issue since the beginning of the year and our food is being eaten by rats,” Gwadana said.
“Some students have very cold rooms.
“We don’t know if it is because of the building structures but you can tell the temperature difference, especially now that it is winter.
“It doesn’t help that we don’t always have hot water.”
Premier Precision Property Management’s Sameera Moosa ended the call after a reporter identified herself.
Moosa did not respond to a WhatsApp message.
During a budget and treasury committee meeting earlier in 2025, councillors approved the writing off of 50% of the R65m debt owed by Premier Precision Property Management.
The company owns multiple industrial and commercial properties.
This decision needs council approval.
A student from a residence in Havelock Street, who did not want to be named, said many issues had been reported but not much was done.
“While many students enjoy nearby clubs it is no secret that having such places close by will affect academic performance,” the student said.
“These clubs come with a lot of noise and attract criminals who mug us during the day.
“While waiting for a shuttle, I have to keep my hands in my pockets so that criminals don’t see that I have a cellphone.
“In the residence, we have issues with hot water for the showers, the internet and, most of all, there is a huge problem of cockroaches.”
A telephone number listed on Google for the residence was no longer in service.
A security guard at Gateway Residence in Parliament Street said the students were troubled by external factors such as a nearby tavern.
“This is Central and there are clubs and criminals all around.
“Everything inside the residence is fine. The furniture broken during a protest last year was repaired.”
The guard provided an email address for the residence manager, who did not want his contact number to be shared.
The manager was emailed but did not respond by the time of publication.
Oceanview student accommodation resident Olwethu Bangalala showed reporters some of the issues they hoped would be fixed since the start of the current academic year.
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There is a room with no computers, desks or chairs meant as a laboratory for students.
Some of the stoves and taps in the kitchen are not working.
There are also loose floor tiles.
Bangalala said more than 600 students were in the residence.
She said only the first 180 who showered early in the morning got to use warm water.
“This means only 30 students in each of the six floors get warm water on a first-come, first-served basis, which is not fair for the rest of the students who are billed over R4,000 a person in a shared room.
“To be able to study privately and in a quiet place, students have to get chairs and desks from their rooms on the top floor and bring them to the supposed computer lab to study.
“Safety is also an issue as residents often complain about stolen laundry.”
Bangalala said there was a pile of rubbish at the back of the property that attracted mice.
There was no manager on site and calls to the cellphone number listed on a signboard outside did not go through.
Calls to a cellphone number listed on Google went straight to voicemail on Tuesday.
Outside Oceanview, Maseko said the DA had launched the portal for students to report accommodation failures.
“The DA will work with the deputy minister for higher education [Mimmy Gondwe] to escalate these issues for resolution by the national department or directly to NSFAS.
“Students have struggled with various aspects of the accommodation for years and rather than problems being solved, each year the situation seems to deteriorate.”
These issues ranged from students having to start their academic years without safe and appropriate housing in place to late accommodation allowance payments and midyear defunding by NSFAS.
Another challenge was unscrupulous landlords preying on vulnerable students who faced either destitution or having to settle for housing in unsafe buildings or areas.
Maseko said they would obtain support from other higher education committee members so that resolutions could be put in place to bring an end to the problems.
The Herald
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