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.
