Last week, Limpopo university students living in off-campus residences carried out protest action after Nsfas and university administration failed to pay rent to their landlords.
According to the South African Union of Students (SAUS), students at the University of Limpopo have not received their student accommodation allowances since the beginning of the academic year.
In an interview SAUS spokesperson, Asive Dlanjwa said that the university neglected to secure Nsfas accredited housing to accommodate all Nsfas funded students.
"Students have not been able to receive their allowances on account that they would have to live as per the Nsfas and higher education guidelines in student accredited accommodation, that has to be accredited by the institution.” he says.
In the event that a university is unable to accredit enough beds to house all its students, they are required to apply for a deviation that will ensure that students will still receive living allowances.
Dlanjwa says that after applying for a deviation, institutions have to implement a framework to pay living allowances to students, and the university of Limpopo management failed to do so.
The institution has responded by saying that the reason for payment delays is that students have not submitted lease agreements as they were requested.
SAUS argues that it is not the responsibility of students to engage with landlords to ensure that there is a particular framework agreed upon by both landlords and the institution. They say it is the responsibility of the universities to do so.
Dlanjwa says that Nsfas has a contractional obligation to ensure that qualifying students receive their allowances.
We have been calling on Nsfas to establish a universal and nationwide framework for the disbursement of funds that will be used by all institutions, and they should not leave it to the prerogative of the universities.
By implementing new framework and regulations of how student allowances are paid, Dlanjwa believes that these types of protest action and incidents can be prevented and dealt with accordingly.
