While the university insists it is doing all it can to help students without accommodation who are struggling with fee blocks, the student representative council has said protests will continue until its demands are met.

As University of Cape Town (UCT) students vow to continue protesting over the "housing crisis", the university has denounced their actions as "unlawful" and shifted lectures online until further notice.

The protesters, led by its EFF-dominant student representative council (SRC), shut down campus activity on Monday - the first day of the academic year - over fee blocks, financial exclusion and National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances. Entrances at the university were blocked and students were encouraged to not attend lectures.

On Tuesday morning, the SRC asked students to meet again on Lower Campus, where entrances had been blocked again.

In the weeks leading up to the start of the academic year, the SRC has been in negotiations about the decision by the student housing department to withdraw accommodation offers for students with fee blocks. This has left many unhoused and without helpful solutions. The SRC views this as exclusionary and notes that it affects black and poor students disproportionately. The NSFAS capping accommodation...