Cape Town - The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), which has taken the blame of NSFAS-funded students who owe fees, has urged universities not to evict students in their accommodation
This, as UCT has seen disruptions on campus over the past few days, as the Student Representative Council (SRC) held demonstrations after students were issued with notices to leave accommodations due to debt.
“The Student Housing Department issued withdrawals of residence offers to students who owe fees, thus removing the essential resource of accommodation to complete studies at UCT.
The Vacation Accommodation Department has also sent out emails to ask students to vacate on January 25. This short notice is inconsiderate of the well-being of students and does not give adequate time for students to make alternative plans,” the SRC said.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola on Tuesday said the executive had reached agreement with the SRC over some of the urgent issues raised.
“The executive has put every effort possible into engaging with the SRC and resolving the issues as speedily as possible. The Kramer Building that was occupied by a few students will also return to full operation, and staff based in this building can resume their duties on campus.
“As has always been characteristic of the university leadership, the UCT executive remains committed to engaging with the SRC and resolving issues amicably,” said Moholola.
NSFAS chief executive, Andile Nongogo, said just as all NSFAS-funded students must be allowed to register for the 2023 academic year without paying their registration fees upfront, the same had to apply to accommodation.
“NSFAS-funded students perhaps have outstanding debt because of the closed out project. We will engage with institutions as we have been engaging and agreed that such students should be allowed to have access to accommodation and other things because in essence NSFAS has indicated that it is the one that owes the fees to the institutions and not the students,” he said.
Nongogo was speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, where he was joined by NSFAS chairperson Ernest Khosa and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, to give an update about funding decisions for the 2023 academic year and the state of its readiness.
As the application system closed at midnight, more than 1.5 million applications from prospective beneficiaries had been received by Tuesday.
About 613 909 applications have been provisionally funded, of which 338 320 are continuing students and 275 589 new applicants.
For this academic year and 2024, NSFAS has been allocated R47.6 billion for student funding – R38.6bn for universities and R8.9bn for TVETs.
“This means that all qualifying students who have been enrolled at a higher education institution will be funded. Furthermore, NSFAS is in a position to provide upfront payments to institutions, to allow for the payment of allowances, minimise the financial impact to institutions due to the fact that NSFAS beneficiaries are not required to pay registration data, this will assist institutions. NSFAS anticipates making upfront payments of approximately R3.5bn to universities and R2.7bn to TVETS,” said Khosa.
Meanwhile, the South African Union of Students is expected to brief the media today in response to the NSFAS and Nzimande’s statements.
Cape Times