Students at the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) are forced to study under deplorable conditions, which include crumbling infrastructure, poor maintenance of buildings, unfinished construction projects, lack of facilities and staff shortages.
VUT student representative council president Twanano Hlongwana shared the distressing conditions under which students live and study at the university with the national assembly’s portfolio committee on higher education and training.
He was speaking as part of a briefing by the Department of Higher Education and Training and university’s management on the institution’s state of affairs on August 28.
With construction and renovation projects that are unfinished at the institution, there is not enough space for effective teaching and learning, and no facilities for sports and recreation.
Hlongwana said the situation is so bad that during exams, there are clashing schedules, resulting in students waiting outside while others write.
Speaking to Sunday World this week, Hlongwana said the -university is even scheduling exams on Saturdays to deal with the space constraints.
“The department of engineering doesn’t have enough lecturers,” he said.
The Faculty of Engineering is VUT’s largest, with a total of 6 471 out of the 20 649 students who are enrolled for the 2024 academic year.
Hlongwana said the shortage of lecturers in the engineering department resulted in one lecturer teaching one class of 100 students.
“That lecturer then relies on markers, most of whom are postgraduate students, some of whom do not have the extensive knowledge required to assess some of the answers,” he said.
The portfolio committee on higher education and training, chaired by the ANC’s Tebogo Letsie, also expressed concern about the high number of vacant positions, especially in strategic academic and administration management positions.
The university – which welcomed its vice-chancellor and principal Prof Khehla Ndlovu in February – has no chief financial officer, registrar or executive for human resources.
Key senior academic positions are also vacant, including those of deputy vice-chancellors for teaching and learning; research, innovation, commercialisation and internationalisation; and resources and operations.
Ndlovu told the committee that some of the posts would be filled by January next year.
Hlongwana said the engineering building, known as the GW Building, is also in a poor condition.
In addition to unhygienic conditions in the bathrooms and its dirty state because it’s not cleaned regularly, Hlongwana said the lifts are out-of-order, making it difficult for students with disabilities to access the building.
He said while there is a shortage of space for learning, they are tormented by incomplete buildings and renovations, a sign of governance and management problems.
“The cafeteria has been under renovation since 2021. The lecturers go to the mall to buy food.
“Students use the shops around campus to buy food. These shops also sell alcohol. You have students who go there to buy food and then end up drinking and fighting,” he said.
“We also cannot do anything about the quality of food sold there; if they sell expired goods there is nothing that we can do.”
The library also operates from 7.30pm to 10pm, he said, making it hard for students who want to study throughout the night.
“Some of us share rooms at res [residence] and it is difficult to study while your roommate is sleeping. As a university, we need a library that is open 24 hours, seven days a week.”
He added that the university clinic is there in name only. There is a dire shortage of nurses and medication.
“Why don’t they use nursing graduates, a majority of whom are unemployed, to assist at the clinic?” he said.
He said the university did not even have an emergency vehicle to transport students to hospital.
“House parents use their cars to transport students to hospital. What will happen when a student dies in the back seat of the car?” he said.
Ndlovu told the committee that VUT had a higher surplus in 2022 due to the non-delivery of critical infrastructure projects, but said there was a process underway to ensure the delivery.
He also added that the contractor for one of the abandoned it, and it was subsequently vandalised. He said management was sourcing about R89-million to complete it.
Committee member, the MKP’s Joel Ngubane, said there must consequence management and that the funds must be recouped from the contractor.
