WHEN students at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) checked their April meal allowances, they found that it was short with a couple of hundreds.
This as those who are funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) did not receive their full meal allowances for the month of April.
The students were meant to receive at least R1 650, but instead found themselves receiving R300 due to administration errors by the university.
According to Nsfas, UJ “mistakenly” uploaded incorrect registration data, resulting in erroneous allowances being paid out to students.
“Instead of uploading the correct amount of R16 500 for the academic year 2024, the institution accidentally uploaded R3 300 meal allowance.
“The payment of allowances is not a manual process; rather, it is system-based. The Nsfas system processed the R3 300 claim assuming it was for annual allowances and consequently divided it by 10, representing the 10 months from February to November,” explained Nsfas.
As a result of this error, students received lower allowances.
While Nsfas said they are aware of the dissatisfaction this would cause among students, the financial aid scheme put pressure on the university to investigate as this error would taint Nsfas' reputation.
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However, UJ's Auckland Park Student Representative Council (SRC) was left fuming. The SRC said they've since initiated a meeting with Nsfas and Norraco (one of four payment systems used by institutions) which led to several resolutions.
Among those resolutions is attending to the R330 saga to ensure students would soon receive their R1 650.
SRC's Palisa Moleshiwa begged students not to resort to violence during this time as it will have consequences.
“Students are encouraged not to engage in any anarchy that will disturb functions of the university or damage to property as consequences will affect other students, including the progress of students within the university,” said Moleshiwa.
She said this is a Nsfas issue and should be attended to as such.
However, one of the students, Nkosingphile Showngwe was not convinced that Nsfas understands that this error has left them hungry.
“As a starving student, this means nothing. We don't need Nsfas telling us who to blame because blame doesn't make us full in our stomachs. All that has to be known is that students are starving no matter whose fault it is,” he said.
When Daily Sun asked UJ if they had started investigating the matter and if meal assistance teams are present at the institution to offer support, university spokesman Herman Esterhuizen said they were attending to the matter and would "prioritise" students who have been affected.
