SINCE the start of 2024, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) has suffered several blows.
This has placed the financial aid scheme in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
From allegations of corruption in the board to the recovery of millions of unallocated funds from universities, Nsfas has struggled to maintain its credibility.
On Thursday, 11 April, Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande put his foot down by announcing that the board will be dissolved, and the financial aid scheme placed under administration with immediate effect.
This move means that the department believes that the board has failed to carry out its functions and Morné du Toit, CEO of the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme Foundation NPC (ISFAP), is in agreement with this.
Du Toit argued that the financial aim scheme has over R53,6 billion budget allocation for 2024 to fund more than one million students, but it's battling to help students.
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“With so many young people depending on the Nsfas to pursue higher education, we are concerned that the scheme is battling to help students in need,” he said.
The decision to place the financial aid scheme under administration comes after reports of students experiencing payment delays.
In Soweto, on Monday, 8 April, South West Gauteng College (SWGC) students closed all school entrances at the Roodepoort campus, boycotting exams as they had not received allowances and were chased out of their places of residence.
At the University of Johannesburg (UJ), students woke up to R330 bank account notifications for their April meal allowances instead of R1 650.
This was after UJ “mistakenly” uploaded incorrect registration data, resulting in incorrect allowances being paid out to students.
A student said:
In response to the error, Nsfas acknowledged the potential for student protests and expressed concern about students' negative perceptions of the payment process.
The South African Student Congress (Sasco) rubbished the direct payment processed and called for the termination of contracts with FinTech companies responsible for administering student allowance as they cause frustration.
Before announcing the board's dissolution, Nzimande acknowledged the systemic issues within Nsfas and pledged to take decisive action.
