The Minister of Higher Education, Finance and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande visited Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal where he wanted to engage with the youth about the importance of being able to vote in South Africa’s national elections, but students in the community say they want to first address the financial issues they are facing at higher education institutions.
The Student Representative Council (SRC) President at Umfolozi TVET College, Zulu Zilungisele said that the students wanted Nzimande to address the issues they are facing with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
NSFAS provides students with various allowances which cover their learning materials transport, accommodation and other living expenses.
He said that some students are getting incorrect NSFAS allowances and those receiving transport allowances from NSFAS who live within 10km of their institution say that the allowance does not cover the cost of their transport.
Zilungisele said that the residences at the College hasn’t changed or improved even though the NSFAS allowance for accommodation has increased since he enrolled in the institution in 2021. Students are also finding that the food served at residences is not of good quality even after menus have been changed.
Some students in private accommodation have experienced delays in accommodation allowance payments and they say landlords expect the rent payment whether they have received their NSFAS allowances or not.
They are calling on NSFAS to pay the allowance directly to landlords so that students are not held responsible for payment when there are delays from NSFAS.
In response to allowance payment delays, NSFAS has said their financial year begins on 1 April 2023 as this is when they receive their first portion of their budgetary allocation for the first quarter of the financial year.
This is why many students were unable to receive their allowances for the last few months.
Many higher education institutions are nearing the end of the first semester and students have called on the government to urgently deal with the challenges they have been facing since the beginning of the academic year.
