Most city students assisted with their Unisa applications

THOUSANDS of desperate prospective students joined long queues early at Unisa Cape Town campus.

Unisa was reopening applications for the 2018 academic year for first-time undergraduate students who have not previously applied for admission for this academic year. Unisa spokesperson Martin Ramotshela said that by 8am hundreds of people were in the queue.

“The additional number of students arriving at the Cape Town Campus put a huge strain on our manpower capacity but with the help of all regional staff we managed to assist most students. We unfortunately had to advise numerous students to return tomorrow (today) as at this stage it looks as if we will only service the last student in the queue by approximately 8pm today (yesterday),” Ramotshela said.

The tertiary institution, which is not taking walk-ins, said they had directed first-time undergraduate students to apply via the university’s website or a self-help station at Unisa’s service centres by Friday.

“Since January 3, approximately 13 000 students registered in Cape Town. This includes students who registered but who have not yet paid the minimum fees. It will be a first-come, first-served basis subject to the number of places still available. Registration is not free, but Unisa had no fee increase for 2018,” Ramotshela said.

The University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) allowed walk-ins, given that they qualify for what they wish to study.

“We have made labs available to assist those first-year students who haven’t applied. The walk-in also depends on the availability of space in each field or faculty of study they are applying to enrol in. We encourage those who have done well academically but have not applied to institutions of higher learning to submit their details to the Department of Higher Education and Training’s Central Application Service,” UWC spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo said.

CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said so far it has been peaceful, amid reports that walk-ins would be chaotic.