Outstanding NSFAS Allowance Payments Leave NWU and NMU Students Stranded on Campus
- University students relying on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme are still stuck on campus
- Briefly News spoke to a student from North-West University and Nelson Mandela University, and they shared their struggles with not receiving their allowances in months
- Some have had to rely on donations, and others sold themselves so that they can receive money for travelling back home and for food
Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News's current affairs journalist, offered coverage of current affairs and societal issues during his seven years at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
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Students from North-West University and Nelson Mandela University are stuck on campus. They cannot go home because the National Student Financial Aid Scheme hasn't paid them for months. Some have had to resort to alternative means to get money, including begging for donations and sleeping with people to get some money to survive. Briefly News spoke to a few of the students who shared their hardships.
NMU and NWU students stuck because of NSFAS
A student from the North-West University's Potchefstroom campus spoke to Briefly News on condition of anonymity. She told Briefly News that students have been stuck on campus since the semester ended and have not received their NSFAS allowance. She added that some students have not received their allowances since October and rely on them to feed themselves.
"What's sad is that most of us are stuck on campus because we can't go home as NSFAS hasn't sent us the last allowance. We depend on the allowance to go home or even buy groceries. This is not the first time this has happened. Every time we are supposed to get our meal allowance, we have to fight for it," she said.
The student added that some students have had to sell their bodies to get money to travel back home. The student said they struggle with Norracom, the system NSFAS uses to dispense the allowance. This is even though NSFAS cancelled its contracts with service providers, including Norraco.
A student from Nelson Mandela University, Iva Mapekula, told Briefly News that government and university management should take action because of NSFAS's allegedly scandalous behaviour.
"Every day, students go hungry because their allowances are not distributed fairly or promptly. Many cannot afford to travel home at the end of each semester due to lack of funds. The situation is untenable," she said.
"The lackadaisical approach towards resolving these issues is affecting our academic performance and mental health."
NSFAS cuts R13.7 billion from budget
In a similar article, Briefly News reported that NSFAS is set to cut R13.7 billion out of its student funding budget.
NSFAS revealed that almost one million students might be without funding in the next academic year. Funding will be cut for universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges. South Africans were saddened by students' struggles and blamed the government for corruptly spending the money meant for students.
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Source: Briefly News
