Minister Announces Plans To Build New Student Accommodation At Universities


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National Treasury has unveiled plans to build new student accommodation facilities at several institutions in South Africa. This move has been welcomed by the Higher Education Minister. 


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Higher Education Minister Dr. Nobuhle Nkabane has welcomed funding commitments from the National Treasury to improve student housing in South Africa.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the government is expanding funding sources for public infrastructure, including student housing at six higher education institutions.

This effort will employ mechanisms like build-operate-transfer (BOT) structures and a new blended finance risk-sharing platform to attract private investment while minimizing government liabilities.

BOT structures are contractual arrangements where a public entity—in this case, the government—grants a private company the right to finance, design, build, and operate a specific project. The private company invests in the project and recoups its costs, along with a profit, through fees or charges associated with the project's operation.

This model shifts the financial burden from the government to the private sector, reducing upfront costs and allowing the government to focus on other priorities.

Minister Welcomes Increased Student Accommodation Funding

Minister Nkabane called National Treasury's approach forward-thinking, arguing that by focusing on infrastructure expansion for student accommodation, the government is ensuring that students not only have a place to stay but also a conducive environment for academic success.

In particular, allocating student housing at six higher education institutions reflects a much-needed commitment to resolving various issues students face nationwide. By focusing on infrastructure expansion for student accommodation, the government is ensuring that students not only have a place to stay but also a conducive environment for academic success.

Nkabane also reassured students, institutions, and the broader public that the department is working in collaboration with NSFAS to improve the efficiency of the accommodation accreditation process. This effort aims to ensure that no student is left behind due to a lack of safe, affordable housing.

In 2022, NSFAS launched the student accommodation portal, which allows accommodation providers to register their facilities to be considered for housing NSFAS beneficiaries. Once signed in, accommodation providers can list their properties by providing property names, locations, and images.

NSFAS will then contact them and send a panel of experts to accredit and grade the properties to ensure they are suitable for student living.

This system is designed to support students in finding accommodations that meet established standards of safety and quality, although it has faced challenges with limited access and functionality, sparking criticism from groups like the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).

OUTA has argued that the slow pace of the accreditation process puts students at risk of being without accommodation.

Suggested Article:

nsfas releasing funding decisions

NSFAS 2025 applications officially opened on 20 September 2024 and will close on 15 December 2024. NSFAS has given some details about when students can expect their NSFAS funding decisions.






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Post-Matric Options

 

We helped you with past papers for your matric exams, so hopefully you are happy with your Matric results. So now you are faced with a lot of post-matric options that can shape your future paths. You might want to study law, teaching, or nursing. Of course studying is expensive so we have helpful advice about student loans, NSFAS bursaries, Fundi loans, ISFAP, and lots of other funding options.

These options range from pursuing higher education at universities , TVET Colleges or  private colleges, finding student accommodation, entering vocational training programs (like Learnerships and internships), joining the workforce, or even starting your own business. There are so many choices but we are here to help.

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