No Space, No Future? UDESMO says Enough!
Statement by Lucia Matomane, UDESMO Eastern Cape Provincial Chairperson
The United Democratic Students’ Movement (UDESMO) in the Eastern Cape has long been outraged by the persistent crisis in higher education. For years, students have been forced to carry the burden of the government’s failure to plan, NSFAS’s chaos, and issues like universities that reward executives while neglecting learners. Each academic year brings the same broken promises, the same delays, and the same exclusion of thousands of young people who only seek the chance to study further.
This year, 850,000 matriculants will sit for exams, but only half of them will find a place in universities, TVETs, or CET colleges. The rest will be left behind. Imagine working hard to pass matric, only to be told there is no space for you. That is not just bad planning, it is a betrayal of our generation.
At the same time, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is collapsing under the weight of its own failures. Kimberley is the latest example, centred on Sol Plaatje University, where landlords housing more than 500 students have not been paid for over a year. Businesses are closing, jobs are being lost, and students now face the threat of eviction. This is not a “Kimberley issue,” it is a national crisis that repeats itself every year.
Meanwhile, vice-chancellors and executives continue to pocket millions while students sleep in libraries, go hungry, and drop out because allowances never arrive. The inequality is staggering, and it proves that the system serves the powerful, not the students.
• Now we are told that a “war room” will solve these problems. But students do not need another committee. We need urgent action. Minister Manamela’s war room must address the following issues:
• Pay landlords now to stop evictions.
• Expand the number of student spaces for 2026 so that no deserving learner is left behind.
• Ensure safe, affordable housing by funding universities and TVET colleges to expand residences, and by holding NSFAS and accredited private providers accountable for the conditions students live in.
• Stop rewarding executives with inflated salaries while students are denied basic dignity.
• Think long term: expand infrastructure, build new universities and TVET colleges, and create the capacity to serve the next generation of students instead of leaving them stranded year after year.
The truth is that the Department of Higher Education and Training has failed to plan for the long term. In 2026, we will see the same heartbreak as in 2025: young people arriving at campuses only to be turned away. For 30 years, successive ministers have wasted opportunities and resources, while the system remains stuck in crisis mode. Year after year, students pay the price for their inaction.
We as UDESMO say: enough is enough. We will not be silent while our generation is robbed of opportunity. We will organise, we will mobilise, and we will hold government, NSFAS, and institutions accountable.
Students cannot wait. Our future cannot be postponed. Inclusion now!
