Need joint effort to find a solution

TOP brass at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University would have been hoping for a less excitable start to the academic year.

Following the petrol-bombing of the institution’s procurement office last weekend, there are now worrying signs of a looming student housing crisis.

A report in yesterday’s The Herald turned attention to an acute accommodation crunch after an off-campus residence – South Point – lost its university accreditation owing to unsuitable living conditions.

The result is that some 800 beds have effectively been removed from the student residence pool.

It appears there is nothing of similar size in the pipeline to replace these lodgings.

If the anecdotes are anything to go by, some students are facing desperate circumstances.

Those without boarding have taken to sleeping in laboratories, communal TV rooms, even on park benches, according to some accounts.

It doesn’t get more harrowing than that and hopefully these are isolated events.

The university, understandably, needs to investigate the claims to determine how extreme the situation really is.

One would hope they gain a quick understanding of the scope of the problem to hammer out an appropriate solution.

Certainly, management is aware of the issue.

The university says staff members are assisting with the accommodation of students out of compassion, a sign that not all is well.

At a glance it becomes obvious then that there is both a question and an opportunity begging.

First, the question: could this crisis have been foreseen?

Second, this predicament exposes a clear gap in the local market for a supplier of decent, affordable student accommodation.

The story is similar elsewhere in the country, as evidenced by a few of the JSE’s property counters who are taking a keen interest in this sector.

What is needed right now, though, is for another triumvirate of minds between NMMU, business and the municipality. Money alone won’t resolve this latest crisis.

Cool heads just might.