Cape Town — The South African Union of Students (SAUS) has criticised the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for its failures to pay funds to hundreds of first-year students.
SAUS has blamed the new payment system they imposed, leaving first-year students, among many others, failing to complete registrations and paying for accommodation, SABC News reported.
According to SAUS spokesperson, Asive Dlanjwa, registrations for first-year students should be temporarily halted until all funding issues are resolved, saying the pause would make opportunities fair for all students, regardless of financial circumstances.
“Pause registration so that you give everyone an equal opportunity, those that can afford and those that cannot afford. The most practical thing to do in all honesty would be to pause those registrations because you can’t even implement an imposed quota because there’s no legislation to impose quotas on the general admission of students,” Dwanjla said.
SAUS is accusing NSFAS of failing to deliver on its promise and mandate as thousands of students have still not received allowances for last year, blocking registration. Lukhanyo Daweti says NSFAS had promised to finalise payments by January 15.
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— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) January 23, 2024
Meanwhile, NSFAS have pointed the finger at the universities for their tardiness in filing registration data, saying they would engage with universities for a speedy resolution, The Daily Maverick said.
NSFAS considered the impact of late submission of student allowances, they expect that the details of all eligible students should be submitted no later than 31 March 2024.
“As soon as institutions have received the approved eligibility criteria and conditions for financial aid guidelines, they should submit registration information speedily to allow for proper processing of allowances.”
“Universities will not be permitted to change allowance types submitted within a particular academic term without the change being approved by NSFAS prior to such a claim being submitted, and the necessary budgetary approval obtained,” they said.
Minister @DrBladeNzimande will this afternoon brief media on the state of readiness for the 2024 academic year and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) .#NSFAS#NSFAS2024 pic.twitter.com/A4XTw7H67c
— HigherEduTrainingZA (@HigherEduGovZA) January 23, 2024
The portfolio committee of higher education warned that NSFAS’ failure to pay all outstanding allowances with have a ripple effect on the 2024 academic year, IOL reported.
“The committee is fully aware of and gravely concerned by the challenges in the higher education sector, such as those experienced by NSFAS in finalising outstanding matters from the 2023 academic year”
“The committee remains greatly concerned that the inability to pay these outstanding allowances could have a ripple effect on student registration in 2024. The committee urged NSFAS to address these issues with urgency,” committee chairperson, Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, said.
NSFAS set a self-imposed deadline of 15 January to pay all 20 000 outstanding allowances, but only made 9 128 payments. The remaining 11 000 will be settled in the 2024 academic year and they have received more than 1 406 000 applications for funding for this academic year, with almost 1 million more applications anticipated.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
