Listen: SA students in Russia facing eviction
South African students abroad are in a battle with the Mpumalanga Department of Education.
A total of 229 students are currently facing eviction and possible expulsion due to an ongoing battle with the Mpumalanga Department of Education.
The crazy thing is this is all happening in Russia.
These desperate students are being alienated so far away from home due to their rent and tuition fees not being paid.
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These students are fully funded by the Mpumalanga Department of Education as part of the Provincial Human Resource Development Strategy.
We spoke to one of the students in Moscow, Victoria Maheso, who pleaded for help:
“Our livelihoods are in danger. What am I going to do? I cannot even ask my family for help. I support them with the stipend I receive. I worked hard to make it to my final year. The people who brought us here are not helping. We are coming to you for help."
Several South African organisations are bringing awareness to their plight.
Spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Department of Education, Jasper Zwane, said: "Most of the students come from very poor backgrounds and were placed in Russia under the contract and guidance of a company awarded a contract to manage them in Russia."
He added: "The Mpumalanga Education Department cancelled the contract earlier in the year with no alternative, citing it as expensive, and then started placing demands on students to open certain bank accounts, getting invoices from universities, all the documents which we have seen."
"Several students were kicked out of hostels and Russian landlords have not been paid for months, resulting in the students being evicted and/or threatened to be evicted," says Jasper.
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Zwane said they are doing everything humanly possible to salvage the situation but could not offer guarantees that Maheso and some of her fellow students won’t find themselves homeless and kicked out of university.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story.
We will bring you the latest at East Coast Radio.
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