This amount can be said to be huge until the basic allowance for students in South Africa is mentioned; R3020. One may wonder as to where the rest of the money disappeared?
This year has seen a rise in the prices of all the basic things that people live on; transport, the most important one being food and rent. Some students say that when they came to Port Elizabeth in 2004 to start their foundation course, they were paying rent of R1200. As the years have gone by, rentals have increased to an average of R1600. This R1600 is not a whole house mind you; it is for your own room. A single house therefore, can accommodate four people sharing the kitchen, lounge and the bathroom. Each of these four people pays R1600 as rent and this is for the fortunate ones. There are some who pay as high as R1900. Granted, this is rent in what is known as the suburbs, but one has to take into account that this is South Africa, in order for one to increase their chances of safety, they have to live in places that have a bit of high security and that is in the suburbs.
