On Saturday, troubled residence owners in Soshanguve held a meeting which was led by Residential Student Association in Philip Stadium, according to the Chairman Nchawe Mutloane of the association, they have set down with the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) last year to represent more than 900 residences.
However students are being ordered by SMS to move to private accommodations. This escalated after residence owners had noticed this trend of Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) student funded by Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) being informed by SMS to move to other private accommodations.
“It’s very painful that we see elderly people treated this way especially by the institution, wherein these landlords have been assisting TUT for 15years, to accommodate its students, but now that the NSFAS has come on board, students are being informed by SMS to pack their bags and relocate to other private accommodations.” said Chairman Nchawe Mutloane.
Mutloane added that they also gave the university their lease agreement for them to make some adjustments to it, he claimed that what TUT is doing is unfair because they gave them feedback which is only favouring them. He ended by saying that the university had now forgotten its social role to the community.
One of the landlords, Solomon Papo said that he was frustrated when he saw some student’s tenants leaving their rooms without paying rent at the end of the month, he added that students leave them with debt because TUT sent them SMS to move to private accommodation.
“I believe that when TUT benefit we as residents of Soshanguve also have to benefit, but what they are doing is unfair, some of us even took loans to build those houses. When students move to private accommodation it leaves us with debt”.
Deputy Chairperson, Wilfred Sebeta added that TUT is wasting government money by moving students from cheaper accommodation to private accommodation and hiring buses to transport them.
“They tell us every day that our government does not have money and it’s in debt but TUT is wasting money imagine that we used to charge them as little as R900.00, but now they are going to pay R3000.00 on top of that the transport money is too much.” said Deputy Chairperson Sebeta.
The Residential Student Association collected tenant’s names who moved to private accommodations from landlords to submit them to TUT management accompanied by new lease agreement which they claimed is fair to them and the university.
