Amani House offers students a quality lifestyle at affordable rates.
It has been three months since Wits University welcomed students into a new residence called Amani House at 49 Jorissen Street in Braamfontein.
Amani is the third residence in the Wits Braamfontein cluster after Braamfontein Centre and Noswal Hall. The university leased the fully furnished student accommodation building in 2022 from Campus Africa, a property rental business that offers student accommodation. In return, Campus Africa in turn took over Rennie House located in 19 Ameshoff Street, Braamfontein, according to a company representative who did not want to be named.
Nomfundo Msuthwana, the Braamfontein cluster manager for Wits Campus Housing and Residence Life told Wits Vuvuzela that Amani is housing under one roof students who would have been at replacing Rennie House and Yale Village. “Both Rennie and Yale leases were expiring, so the decision as a way forward was to find residential space that will accommodate the numbers from the two buildings. Amani House could achieve that,” she said.
Rennie House former resident and first-year electrical engineering student, Phenyo Kojang (who is doing a second degree), said that the university had told residents of the two accommodations in 2022 that they would no longer be under Wits in 2023, and advised them to apply for Amani House or for other Wits residences.
Amani houses 596 students in a two-section, fully furnished, self-catering residence. Five floors make up hotel-style accommodation in double rooms with ensuite bathrooms and a communal kitchen on each floor, which are mostly for first-year students. The 18-floor tower section is built in an apartment style and offers two- to three-person units that share kitchens and bathrooms.
Facilities at the residence, which used to be the Devonshire Hotel, include a cinema room, a braai area, two tuckshops, a library and a games room. This makes it different from all other Wits residences.
Annual fees at Amani range from R64,116 to R69,332 this year, making it one of the least expensive Wits residences. A first-year BCom accounting student, Amkhitha Wana who stays at Amani, said, “The place where we are situated at is very accessible to a lot of places and we have great infrastructure. It’s actually a perfect place to stay at because of the pretty views and the friendly culture that allows everyone to be themselves.”
FEATURED IMAGE: Students enter Amani House, which used to be the Devonshire Hotel. Photo: Lesedi Maako
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