Under-equipped workshops, cramped classes and community interference are just some of the challenges the Libode campus of the King Sabata Dalindyebo FET College faces.

Through assistance from Transnet former president Nelson Mandela helped to established the Libode campus after the former Mthatha, Mapuzi and Engcobo Technical Colleges merged in 2002 under the former abaThembu clan leader's name. And since it's opening difficulties at the college started increasing.

"We have beautiful buildings, but very few of them are being used for their true purpose. We have been forced to shift things around, as workshops have been converted to exam halls, and our library is used for lectures," said senior lecturer Bangile Gabada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Gabada a critical shortage of technical equipment have forced them to turn students away as they cannot offer the classes they are supposed to. While the college's website states it offers subjects in fields like civil engineering, building construction, electrical infrastructure construction, information technology and computer science, Gabada said the college hoped these subject could become a reality in the future.

Taking The Herald team on a tour of the campus Gabada showed one class after the other where small groups of students were busy studying for Engineering Graphics and Technical Drawings exams, one of the few courses the college still offers.

"To an extent we have become a drawing college. Our workshops have very little equipment, and a lot of the smaller tools have been stolen by students. Some of the bigger machines are broken, so we can only use them for demonstrations, but not for actual prctical work."

A building with a sign reading "library" on the outside had no bookshelves, or even a single book, inside, while pieces of the ceiling were broken. It was filled with drawing tables, further emphasizing Gabada's earlier comment about a "drawing college".

"The library is only a library by name. Other than that we use it for whatever we need, and at this point we use it to write drawing exams. Other times it is used as a regular class, because we only have five classrooms." 

Adjacent to the college's main admin block another building, with the same design and colour scheme as the college, was fenced off from the rest of the campus. A sign on the outside of the building identified it as the Chatsmed Candlelight Nursing School.

"We are very sad about that building as it was supposed to a nursing school that formed part of our college. Some community member however decided it should fall under another organisation, so they simply came to claim the building. I don't know why no one stopped them, but it is no longer belongs to us," said Gabada.