‘Now we can eat’ - Unizulu students
UNIVERSITY of Zululand bursary students who took their grievances against unpaid monthly allowances to the streets on Friday, finally received their funds over the weekend.
‘As promised, money was deposited into our accounts on Saturday,’ they told the ZO.
On Friday morning, students embarked on a protest at KWADLANGEZWA campus, leading to all activities being suspended for the day.
The action saw lectures grinding to a halt as students demonstrated on campus.
According to students, they were promised that food and transport allowances would be paid into their bank accounts earlier last week.
‘We are hungry and have no money to buy food. How can we be expected to attend classes without food? This just shows they don’t care about us,’ said Nhlakanipho Chili.
Zama Ngcobo said the pandemonium started when the system to pay funds changed.
‘We used to have money paid into our Fundi cards, but it made sense that we receive it through our banks.
‘The Fundi cards were too limiting for us as we had to buy food at certain shops.
‘We were so excited that we would have more options, but it looks like we are still going to continue facing challenges,’ she said.
Another issue to surface during the protest was in connection with accommodation allowances for off-campus students.
‘The SRC president promised us last year that the money would be paid, but we still haven’t seen a cent,’ said Mandla Sibiya.
‘All we want is for everyone to honour their promises so we can focus on our education.’
Apart from an altercation between student political parties, no injuries or violent incidents were reported, and the situation was calmed down after the SRC addressed the students.