The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is working to improve student allowance payment administration.
NSFAS provides comprehensive bursaries and student loans to deserving learners enrolled in approved courses at universities and TVET colleges. This includes money for tuition and registration fees as well as several allowances for food, accommodation and learning materials.
In recent years, challenges with the administration of the scheme have undermined the important work NSFAS does. This included delayed allowance payments leaving students at risk of hunger and eviction.
Issue with Student Allowance Payments
Newly-appointed Minister, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane said efforts are underway to improve the payment of allowances. This includes improvement in the management of allowance payments.
This has caused unnecessary stress for students and their families and continues to pose a threat to the stability of some TVET colleges and universities.
NSFAS Administrator Of Allowances
NSFAS administrator Freeman Nomvalo said the change in allowance payment methods for colleges and universities has helped with the payments.
Regarding student allowances, the committee may recall that at the start of the year, particularly around April and early May, many students—especially in colleges and universities—experienced delays in receiving their allowances.
In April 2024, NSFAS confirmed that Universities would be responsible for the payment of NSFAS allowances to students until the end of July 2024. However, in July, the scheme concerned that universities would continue to pay NSFAS allowances until the end of the year.
TVET college students were still facing issues—either not receiving their allowances or losing them due to various challenges. This created significant instability, leading to threats of mass action by students.
From May 2024, all TVET college students funded by NSFAS received their allowances directly deposited into their personal bank accounts. Students could choose a bank if they did not already have a bank account.
"To address this, we implemented an interim measure through our current banker, paying students directly," said Nomvalo.
Since the implementation of these new allowance payment arrangements, students have reported significantly fewer challenges with allowance payments.
Since then, there have been no reported instances of students not receiving their allowances, to our knowledge. Moreover, this approach has proven to be cost-efficient. While we intend to extend this process throughout the sector, we are currently unable to do so due to a legal challenge related to the cancellation of the existing contract.
