Expensive public transport leaves some students having to choose between eating regularly or catching another bus or taxi to campus.
It takes France Richia and Mfanelo Zandamela, two LLB students at Wits University over two hours and 90 kilometres to travel to campus daily.
On average, a student traveling from the townships around the Gauteng province to Braamfontein spends anything between R100 to R200 on public transport daily.
Richia and Zandamela travel from Orange Farm to campus, they said, “It gets scary when it’s dark given that we must walk all the way passing Mandela Bridge to Bree Street to catch a bus.”
Johannesburg is notorious for its crime, with the winter season around the corner, days are becoming shorter and darker, a concern for those with classes that end after 17:00.
Richia emphasized the issue of time management: “It is only recently that it has become my biggest challenge, this is because I must keep up with my studies while also making sure that I get enough rest, I have accustomed myself to waking up at 04:00 so that I can catch a bus which leaves at 05:30.”
Zandamela told Wits Vuvuzela that the long three hours spent traveling contribute heavily to his fatigue, his second biggest challenge is the financial constraints this has towards his parents. “In one week I spend an approximate amount of R500” on transport and other incidentals like food.
Both students have stopped buying lunch on campus to save money, they sometimes pack sandwiches or a cooked meal from the previous night.
To tackle their shared accommodation issue, they have both applied for Wits Hardship funding which aims to assist Wits students who need financial support.
Zandamela said “This is honestly my last hope,” living just 10 or 20 minutes away from campus would change his life and university experience drastically.
FEATURED IMAGE: Two LLB Wits students standing infront of the Physics building. Photo: Salim Nkosi. Photo: Salim Nkosi
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