The South African Union of Students (SAUS) says the failure of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to disburse monthly allowances to students is a catastrophic situation.
NSFAS provides comprehensive bursaries to students at public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in South Africa. These students receive several allowances to cover the costs associated with their studies.
The dire consequences of unpaid NSFAS allowances have been underscored by reports that over a thousand students at North-West University did not receive their allowances for November 2023.
SAUS Spokesperson Asive Dlanjwa expressed their concern at the lack of definitive responses from NSFAS regarding the matter. They pointed out that students have been grappling with delayed payments since May.
According to Dlanjwa, the impact of these payment delays has been severe, with an estimated 80,000 students, at a minimum, who would have undergone year-end examinations without the means to afford essential items such as food, toiletries, and other necessities.
As per our estimation, we have got at least about 80,000 students that would have written exams. That’s a minimum that would have written exams without food and their necessary necessities including your toiletries etc. So it was really a disastrous end-of-year examination period for NSFAS beneficiaries.
This has resulted in a challenging conclusion to the academic year for NSFAS beneficiaries, marking a distressing period during the year-end examination season.
NWU spokesperson Christopher Motabogo says the institution implemented a meal-a-day programme to assist starving students. This was made possible through donations from several sponsors.
The North West University's meal-a-day programme caters for roughly 2,000 students across all three of our campuses through donations from several sponsors. We have been able to provide nutritious meals to students who face financial hardship, Since the start of December NWU has catered for at least 75 students
NWU management says they are yet to receive an official response from NSFAS explaining why NSFAS allowances are late.
As of the latest update close to 1,300 North West students are still awaiting allowances for November 2024 and the December 2023 allowances expected on the 1st of December were not dispersed
2024 NSFAS Applications
In November 2023, NSFAS applications for funding for the 2024 academic year opened. The application window will remain open until 31 January 2024.
