Buffalo City College Strike
Students living in res at the Buffalo City Public FET College (BCC) in East London were served with eviction notices on Thursday. The notices came after a petrol bomb was lit on the school premises, following three days of strikes. BONGIWE TUTU found out from BCC students living in residences and hostels what they make of the situation.
On Thursday afternoon BCC principal Dharamchand Singh announced that the institution would close until further notice and sent out notices to all residences and hostels, stating that the students must vacate their accommodation within 30 minutes. This was in response to the student strike and acts of vandalism.
Students at BCC are striking because they want money for accommodation, transport and textbooks. The students say this can be achieved if the school combines the remaining funds allocated by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) with money that can be generated from budget cuts.
Sibongile Ngqaka, 25, third-year office administration student, East London
As we are sitting on these couches, our things are packed, and we are just waiting for what will be done to us. We went on a strike because there are so many students without a place to stay and we need the school to assist us. We have done some vandalising here and there during the strike, but we just want to be heard so that there can be a change. Now they are telling us to move out of res, and we have told ourselves that we are not moving! I have no money, I have no food, and I have nowhere to go. Why must we give ourselves to men around here just so that we can get money and have something to eat? The school does not care about us. Last week on Friday we were evicted at 3 in the morning from res and as a result a female student was raped.