The Cape Peninsula University of Technology has shut all its campuses indefinitely and ordered every student living in a university residence to leave by 4pm on Wednesday 19 August. The CPUT campus closure means thousands of students, many of them from outside the Western Cape, must find somewhere else to sleep within 24 hours.
All academic activities ceased with immediate effect. Staff have been moved to remote work, with only essential and selected support staff required on site.
The order was issued in a communique to staff and students on Tuesday 18 August. The university said residences would be closed once the evacuation is complete.
CPUT management said fire officials responded to the burning of the Old Education building at its Bellville campus on Monday evening. No one was injured.
Inside the CPUT campus closure order
The university described the fire as the latest arson attack and said the level of violence had escalated to a point where someone was likely to be seriously injured or worse.
In its communique, management said continued disruption had forced it to “close all campuses until further notice and immediately evacuate the residences”.
CPUT has not publicly identified who set the building alight. No arrests in connection with that specific fire appear in the material reviewed for this article, and the Central Student Representative Council has not claimed responsibility for it.
A public violence case was opened earlier in the dispute after a separate protest at the District Six campus, according to reporting by the Southern Suburbs Tatler.
The university said management remains focused on finding a way to complete the academic year.
What the 4pm deadline means for students far from home
The immediate problem is accommodation. Many CPUT residence students come from other provinces and have no family in Cape Town.
Amamkele Mtshulwana, a third-year journalism student in a CPUT residence, told GroundUp: “We are not going anywhere.” She is from the Eastern Cape.
Another student, Lizole Xhaya, told TimesLIVE that students had received the instruction to vacate on Tuesday and did not intend to comply.
The reviewed material does not confirm whether CPUT will provide free transport home for out-of-province students. When the university evacuated residences under similar circumstances in May 2023, it chartered buses to move students to their home provinces.
Walter Tebogo Letsie, chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, described the order to leave the residences as harsh and said management should have engaged the SRC before taking a decision affecting students.
Liyabulela Gela, president of CPUT’s Central Student Representative Council, said students want the committee to summon the officials responsible for the decisions that led to the crisis, and want an independent investigation into the university’s conduct.
Two weeks of protest across Bellville, District Six and Wellington
The closure caps a fortnight of escalating disruption over a proposed 2027 registration payment.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 9 August 2026 | Central SRC memorandum issued, demanding withdrawal of the 2027 plan and release of withheld certificates |
| 11 August | Lectures halted across campuses; about 1,000 students march from the District Six campus |
| 12 August | Hundreds march to Bellville and hand a memorandum to Vice-Chancellor Professor Chris Nhlapo; a female security staff member is struck in the face with a brick; windows broken at District Six |
| 12 August, evening | CPUT Council holds a special sitting and withdraws the Draft Financial Recovery Plan for 2027 |
| 14 August | University estimates about R400,000 in damage and begins repairs |
| 17 August, evening | Fire officials respond to the burning of the Old Education building at Bellville |
| 18 August | All campuses closed indefinitely; residences ordered vacated by 4pm on 19 August; more than 500 students march to Parliament |
Accounts differ on which day burning tyres were used at the District Six campus entrance, with GroundUp placing the incident on Tuesday 11 August and the Southern Suburbs Tatler describing burning tyres there on the evening of Wednesday 12 August.
The protests were led by the Central SRC and joined by the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania, the Economic Freedom Fighters Students’ Command and the uMkhonto weSizwe Student Movement.
Damage reported by management across three campuses includes broken windows, a burnt vehicle, a damaged classroom, flooded buildings and damage to perimeter fencing and security equipment.
The R4.2 billion debt behind the dispute
The contested plan proposed an upfront payment of R7,000 to register for 2027, made up of R3,500 for academic registration and R3,500 for residence registration. It would also have removed the option of registering by signing an acknowledgement of debt.
That plan is no longer on the table. CPUT media liaison officer Lauren Kansley said “a decision was taken to withdraw the Draft Financial Recovery Plan (FRP) for 2027” so that further consultation could happen.
Management said NSFAS-funded students would not have been affected by the upfront payment requirement. Students dispute the practical effect, because those in residences costing more than the NSFAS accommodation cap of R52,000 a year must pay the shortfall themselves.
The scale of the underlying problem is documented in Parliament’s own record. In May 2026, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education heard that outstanding student debt across the post-school system stands at R59 billion, split between R29 billion from NSFAS-funded students, R26 billion from self-funded students and R12 billion in irrecoverable debt.
According to figures presented to that committee by Universities South Africa, CPUT carries the highest student debt of any university at about R4.2 billion, ahead of the Durban University of Technology at R4.1 billion and North West University at R3.8 billion. CPUT was recorded as withholding 16,196 certificates, behind the Tshwane University of Technology on 24,394 and DUT on 23,155.
Letsie told that committee the rising figures suggest “the measures put in place are not working as intended”.
The Department of Higher Education and Training said 165,000 qualification certificates are being withheld nationally because of outstanding debt, a figure it described as alarmingly high.
What has not been decided yet
Several things remain unresolved. CPUT has not announced a date for reopening its campuses, has not said how the 2026 academic year will be completed, and has not confirmed in the reviewed material whether transport home will be arranged for out-of-province residence students.
It is also not yet clear whether the evacuation will proceed as ordered. Student leaders said on Tuesday night that no student would vacate residences on Wednesday, setting up a direct confrontation with the 4pm deadline.
Parliament’s Higher Education Committee has said CPUT must take responsibility for its financial position, and students have asked the committee to summon university officials to account.
The withdrawn 2027 recovery plan remains withdrawn pending further consultation, and no revised registration requirement for 2027 has been published.
