NSFAS is now encouraging past students to repay that which they owe NSFAS.
An issue NSFAS has found is that funds are not being repaid by students who were funded when NSFAS was a loan scheme.
"Before 2018 fee free education, students understood that to be funded by NSFAS as a loan, you have to repay it back," said Mamabolo.
In 2018, NSFAS changed from a loan scheme to a bursary scheme. The bursary will cover your tuition and registration fees along with your accommodation, transport and books.
NSFAS has recently said:
Funds received through repayments are reinjected into a new budget which allows us to fund more students.
They then went on to explain that repayment must start once a debtor is employed and earning an income that is above R30 000 per year.
Free Education
Students protest every year for free education. During his presidential term, former President Jacob Zuma, promised students that there would be free education.
However, current Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande, has set the record straight and said that this was incorrect and that government has the job of providing free education to students who come from poor and working class background which he says is being done through NSFAS.
RELATED: There Is No Free Higher Education For All - Nzimande
Former student activist, Shaeera Khalla, told Carte Blanche:
When the free education announcement was made by President Jacob Zuma, there was no indication of where the money was coming from ... You're not seeing any real change in these systems.
She feels that government has not found a solution to that issue and that NSFAS is actually a problem even though it's being seen as part of the solution.
"Fundamentally, we cannot say that NSFAS has become a competent institution that can administer the funds that have been put into it."
