By Zirquinn Phillips
The first caucus of this year’s Stellenbosch University (SU) Students’ Representative Council (SRC) election season was held on Monday 20 July. During the caucus, 14 candidates out of the 22 running for a seat on the SRC were asked the question: “Can students afford to be students?” None of them said yes. The evening centred around this question.
The caucus, held at the Victoria Hub from 18:00, was chaired by Chief Student Electoral Officer of the Student Electoral Commission (SEC), Shaun Matthysen, and Director of Electoral Regulation, Mihlaliyethu Mgubasi. Candidates are required to attend three of the week’s five caucuses. Here, they present opening speeches, participate in a Q&A, and make their closing statements. At Monday’s caucus, student affordability was the topic of discussion.
Accommodation, tuition, NSFAS delays and the basic cost of living as a student dominated the discussion from the first speech to the last.
The caucus began with Matthysen outlining the caucus rules as set by the SEC in accordance with SU’s Student Constitution. Mgubasi then introduced the candidates, followed by their opening speeches.
The overarching sentiment echoed by various candidates was that affordability of being a student is heavily affected by tuition, accommodation, challenges with funding, and historic student debt. Although 14 candidates spoke, many of their arguments overlapped, highlighting a consensus rather than isolated grievances.
SRC candidates, Aphiwe Mguzulwa, Jacques Souchon, Nete Mathaha and Kamo Majahe, all emphasised accommodation costs as a key factor affecting student affordability.
Mguzulwa remarked, “Many students may be in a poor accommodation, on-campus or off-campus, which affects their health, safety and their ability to study”.
Souchon mentioned that some students work part-time jobs to be able to cover additional costs of living.
Majahe argued that, since NSFAS-accredited accommodation is often situated off-campus, it “forces many students to look into off-campus residences which are oftentimes unsafe and unreliable”.
Mathaha reflected on what it means to be a student by highlighting the harsh realities of the accommodation crisis, referring to “those of us who sleep at different locations every week ’cause we can’t afford accommodation”.
Majahe, Liyema Langa, Reneilwe Maphoto, and Senate Tladi, who are also SRC candidates, argued that the affordability crisis extends beyond individual hardship and is rooted in systemic issues. Majahe mentioned, “Each year, many students can’t register; can’t access their academic records. They can’t graduate because of historical debt.” He added that many of these issues are structural.
Maphoto highlighted the inequality faced by individuals from a lower income background and stated, “I believe that the question, ‘Can students afford to be students?’ is definitely a social justice issue.”
Tladi raised the global economic pressure imposed by the ongoing US-Israel-Iran war as an issue affecting students, stating, “We live in a world where we have a war that is currently making the cost of living in this country worse.”
Langa notes that it has been 11 years since the #FeesMustFall movement and nine years since the “Open Campus movement”, yet many of the same issues persist. Langa also emphasised, “It’s not nice when a learner comes with a suitcase with hopes and dreams, only to be told to go back home after a week.”
Senkosi Nuku, another candidate, highlighted gaps in the funding system and reflected on having to rely on the SRC and other structures because of hardships faced with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Nuku also singled out the “missing middle” students, who neither qualify for full NSFAS support nor comfortably afford fees on their own, as a group left entirely out of the conversation which is often centered around NSFAS students.
Ndikhokele Mgcineni and Umvelingangi Nkohla framed the issue in the most immediate terms, asking whether students can access food and meet basic living costs while trying to focus on their studies.
Mgcineni said that even though the Neelsie is a student centre, it does not serve students. Nkohla placed emphasis on food insecurity and called for systemic change. He proposed lower institutional cost structures as a potential need-based solution.
Mathaha and Kouthaar Cupido, also a candidate, linked affordability to a student’s sense of belonging and what it means to be a student at the university. Cupido stated, “No student should ever know what it feels like to be hopeless and have to give up on their dreams because they don’t have funding, food, shelter or assistance.”
Other candidates, Tshianeo Mudau, Unathi Mkhwazananzi and Xola Meyisi, focused on possible solutions rather than simply identifying the problem. Meyisi’s suggestion was redirecting existing SRC funds toward student debt relief and working as a collective unit.
Mkhwazananzi described the topic as something personal and pointed towards the gaps between finances to ease the burden on students.
Mudau called for a move towards policy-driven solutions and liaising with university structures.
Meyisi stated that he would be willing to offer up his remuneration to be utilised to assist students.
During the closing remarks, Mguzulwa stated that he would withdraw himself from the SRC runnings, as he said that he knows little about the structure.
After the caucus, Die Matie interviewed Madian Bates, a MSc (Physiological Sciences) student who attended the caucus and he stated, “I think the one aspect that was missing is how we are gonna solve dignity, but I think it is ’cause it is so abstract that it is difficult to think of a solution on the spot.” However, he added, “There were some examples given, like how one candidate wanting to use his remuneration to give back to students.”
