This call comes amidst student protest at Free State Universities, with student accommodation at the forefront of these issues.

Speaking on behalf of students from two Free State universities, Moses Ntonyane, on Saturday told President Cyril Ramaphosa during his Presidential Imbizo in Mangaung that students are being persecuted and harassed every day.

He says students from the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, among others, receive a mere R750 accommodation fee.

"Please inject more money into higher education so that the department will stop manufacturing these guidelines that are aimed at excluding our students. We need an Ombudsman for universities. We are harassed every day by universities and we have nowhere else to go; if we go to court we need money President; so maybe an Ombudsman will assist?" he adds.

Both the minister and his deputy were not available to respond to the student's concerns.

OFM News previously reported on protests by students from the University of the Free State and the Central University of Technology over accommodation, among other issues.

Students at Welkom’s CUT campus went so far as erecting shanties inside the premises of the campus to try and get the attention of management on the issue of student accommodation.

READ MORE: Welkom students protest over demolished campus shacks

At least four students have since been arrested by the police after a fire recently broke out at the Qwaqwa UFS campus, that gutted two buildings which housed a clinic and laboratory. The damage is estimated at R35 million.

READ MORE: #UFS #fire: More suspects arrested

Ntonyane adds there are plans afoot to reverse the gains of Free Education, as announced by former president Jacob Zuma in 2017.

OFM News