Student Accommodation Needs Major Maintenance

Samukele Manzini


Many Tshwane University of Technology, Soshanguve, students regard a male and female residence known as Towers as one of the best the campus has to offer. On close inspection this proves not to be the case.

I was staying there this year and was shocked that getting hot water in the middle of winter is a luxury and to make matters worse, the university does not maintain this building properly. On some days we find water all over the floor as a result of blocked pipes. Some of the toilets do not flush for several days before being fixed and there is a leakage of water in the kitchen sink.

There are times when there is just now water there. Students woulf complain about this as they are often forced to go to other residences to get water to take a short bath or even drink. A source close to the maintenance guys at Towers whispered into says the problem is not with them but with the residence manager at Towers, Mr. Patrick Mabuseng, who fails to follow protocol when he needs to fix the problems they have there and while covering the story I did try to schedule an interview with the manager but he refused. He agreed to meet with me at a certain point but did not show up for the interview.

Ratshilima Maanda, who is in charge of an area known as CCT on campus says the main problem with the hot water supply is that there is one geyser supplying hot water to all six floors of the residence.

Maanda claims they have written a memorandum to the maintenance department about the matter but received no response.

“We make follow ups every week but the guys have been slow in responding” he added.
Maanda hopes the problem will be solved by the end of the year.

Jerry Msiza, head of the maintenance team at Towers denies Maanda’s claims and admits that problems at Towers are never fixed in time.

“The residence manager must follow the correct channels before we can be able to do our job, we also have bosses to report to” said Msiza.

Students don’t seem to care about the excuses they keep on hearing as their fees are the same as those who stay in better residences in Soshanguve and other campuses.