National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) Administrator, Freeman Nomvalo says they are committed to resolving NSFAS allowance payment issues at the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) TVET College. This comes after reports indicated that students were evicted from their accommodation due to NSFAS’ failure to allowances.
NSFAS provides comprehensive bursaries and student loans to deserving learners enrolled in approved courses at universities and TVET colleges. The funding covers tuition, registration fees, and various allowances for living expenses, learning materials, and accommodation.
The accommodation allowance helps students avoid long commutes. However, NSFAS delays in paying these allowances, exceeding six months, have led to student evictions by landlords.
The NSFAS administrator held a meeting at the Ngcobo KSD campus in which several key stakeholders after news reports amplified the severe challenges being faced by KSD TVET College students. The main challenges are failure to pay NSFAS student allowances and student accommodation providers.
Upon receiving social media reports regarding the plight of students at the KSD TVET College, the NSFAS Administrator committed to swiftly resolving the challenges experienced by the students, particularly given the seriousness of the matters confronting the students relating to payment of allowances and student accommodation.
Nomvalo was briefed on the difficulties relating to the payment of allowances, including those for accommodation. Following thorough discussions, a list of affected students was handed over to NSFAS for processing. The meeting concluded with a resolution that payment of student allowances for the Ngcobo campus will commence on 25 June 2024.
The list of all the affected students was handed over to NSFAS for processing and the meeting resolved that the Ngcobo campus student allowances will be paid from the 25th June 2024.
To alleviate immediate concerns, the NSFAS Administrator reiterated his appeal to landlords not to evict students due to outstanding payments. They further assured landlords that NSFAS is actively clearing all legitimate pending payments and encouraged landlords who have not yet submitted their claims to do so via the dedicated email.
NSFAS has already commenced with the clearing of all legitimate outstanding payments. Landlords who did not submit their claims for outstanding payments are still encouraged to refer their queries to our dedicated email address [email protected].
In addition to this, NSFAS announced the launch of provincial accommodation roadshows set to commence in July. These roadshows aim to understand the unique dynamics of various institutions and disseminate NSFAS accommodation guidelines and processes to ensure a smooth application process for 2025.
To further deal with issues affecting student accommodation, NSFAS will be undertaking provincial accommodation road shows from July in all provinces. The roadshows are aimed at understanding different institutional dynamics and sharing NSFAS accommodation guidelines and processes to ensure a seamless accommodation application process for 2025.
The government bursary scheme believes this initiative will not only resolve immediate accommodation challenges but also provide comprehensive support to institutions and landlords, enhancing the overall management of student allowances and accommodation logistics.
