Minister addresses student concerns amid NSFAS challenges
Student issues, especially those relating to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), accommodation and registration, which have resulted in student protests across South Africa were highlighted when Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane conducted an oversight visit at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) on Thursday.
South African Students Congress (Sasco) UKZN Westville Campus leadership prepared a memo with demands include reinstating walk-ins, eliminating certain fees, extending registration, allowing NSFAS-funded students to choose their accommodation, and permitting post-graduate students back into university residences.
The Students’ Representative Council highlighted issues of deposits being demanded from students for accommodation and lack of communication.
UKZN residence administrators use the NSFAS student accommodation system to verify student residence placements and release unplaced students to apply for NSFAS-accredited private accommodation. Students must be academically and residentially registered before occupying their residence space.
On NSFAS allowances for the 2025 academic year, NSFAS advised that the university will disburse semester 1 allowances. However, the university has not received communication from NSFAS on the 2025 allowance amounts. UKZN started disbursing cycle 1 allowances based on 2024 amounts on February 6 due to a lack of communication from NSFAS.
NSFAS administrator Freeman Nomvalo said institutions need to have the latest allowance figures to load registration data which informs the disbursement on the disbursement side from NSFAS.
He urged student leadership to help victims threatened by accommodation providers to report and seek counselling if needed.
NSFAS board member Advocate Lavan Gopaul said the new board’s priority is to ensure efficient funding and suitable accommodation for students, addressing concerns raised by the media. They acknowledge that NSFAS has not been delivering as it should and are committed to meeting the student population’s needs.
Nkabane said they were told NSFAS-funded students were sitting at 75% but funding decisions have not been concluded, which worried her.
She said they engaged with the Department of Basic Education to address the delay in matric results possibly affecting NSFAS and university decisions. They hope to return to releasing results on time so universities can make registration decisions and funding decisions can be made.
Nkabane said it is crucial to send concluded registration information to NSFAS promptly. This ensures concurrent processing, avoids delays, and prevents supply-demand issues caused by waiting for all registration data before starting NSFAS processes. Sharing information quickly is key to maintaining stability.
She expressed happiness over UKZN’s decision on the 36-month payment of historic debt and that universities should have an open-door policy between management and students.
Nkabane said students are not receiving NSFAS because even universities are looting the money but they were there to clean the system and the taps will be open to benefit students.
She said they had several engagements with student organisations and suggested that UKZN Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Nana Poku, with his council, and senior management engage with student organisations regularly to understand their frustrations and create a corrective plan, which would create stability in the institution.
She said students are complaining about safety issues in their accommodation, including rape, gender-based violence and the exchange of accommodation for sex.
“If we receive these complaints every day, there is a problem. We are going to hand over this responsibility back to universities, but universities as well must comply,” Nkabane said.
She appealed to UKZN to extend registration by another week.
Regarding the Durban University of Technology, DHET deputy director-general of university education Dr Marcia Socikwa said: “We are going to encourage the university to work closely with SAPS. We understand the criminal elements were wearing balaclavas, for instance, so they could not identify them. We are very concerned about that, particularly for first-year students, that would be a really negative experience,” Socikwa said.
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za