Cape Town – Historical items have been lost following wildfires ravaging parts of the University of Cape Town on Sunday.
The fire broke out near Rhodes Memorial and had quickly spread across Table Mountain and into several residential areas.
More than 4,000 students were evacuated from the Rondebosch campus and moved to hotels across the city.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, estimates the damages could total over R500-million, excluding the priceless books that went up in flames.
“I think for us, as a university, we are grateful to the City, to the province, Table Mountain, and staff who helped us manage the fire we wouldn’t be able to be where we are if it wasn’t for the premier’s team,” said Phakeng.
“We’ve had to evacuate about 4,000 students of residences to go into hotels that wasn’t an easy task… again the people of Cape Town came to the party…. thank you to the Gifts of the Givers who helped with food.”
Classes are expected to resume later this week.
