EFF Student Command protests at DUT over new NSFAS payment system

Students aligned with the EFF Student Command (EFFSC) have vowed that the Durban University of Technology (DUT) will not operate normally while their concerns about the new financial aid payment method are not addressed.

Members of the organisation held a peaceful gathering at the university’s ML Sultan campus before marching to the Open House building via Steve Biko campus, where they submitted their memorandum of demands to the dean of students.

Their concerns centred mainly on the controversial new system of payment of  National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances in which a third party, eZaga, makes direct payments to students.

The EFFSC in the province has been vocal about the inefficiencies of the system and their rejection of it, which resulted in a protest last month.

“The burning issue is that our students continue to be frustrated and excluded through this system. Many students who were getting allowances from the beginning of the year have not received them since the introduction of this third-party system. We cannot allow such a system to operate at the expense of our students,” said Siyanda Mpontshane, EFFSC chairperson at DUT.

“There are students who can’t register now because the system says they are not recognised or not funded by NSFAS. So if they can’t even do something as simple as getting a list of people who are funded, how can you expect people who are so incompetent to be able to distribute the allowances to the whole student community?”

The students also raised concerns about the state of some DUT residences and the Wi-Fi not working properly on campuses, among other grievances.

Mpontshane said DUT's response will determine their next course of action but warned that they will disrupt the operations of the institution should they receive an unfavourable response.

“Today is our first day submitting a memorandum. We are going to intensify, there will be series of protest and nothing will operate normally while conditions are not normal,” he said.

DUT spokesperson Alan Khan acknowledged the receipt of the memorandum and said the university was aware of the students' concerns.

Khan told TimesLIVE the university had shared the issues with NSFAS to help find a solution. He added that the university had no say in the implementation of the system.

“DUT was given no option to decline or accept the implementation of the new payment system because NSFAS told institutions that participation was compulsory. The university followed the process that was needed to ensure students are paid on time,” he said.

EFFSC provincial spokesperson Yaya Mnikwa said this was the first in a series of planned “mass meetings” to engage students at institutions in the province throughout the week. 

“We want this revolution of rejecting direct payments to be owned by students and we will sit down as leadership, probably on Saturday, and take a progressive way forward and communicate it,” he said.

“Today was DUT, tomorrow it will be Unizulu, then UKZN and so on.”

Mnikwa said they had tried to engage NSFAS through e-mails but had been met with silence.

“We feel they are neglecting us. If they don’t want to engage with us, what service will they deliver to students?

“If NSFAS does not remove this thing, we will be left with no choice but to shut down everything until we find each other.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to TimesLIVE Premium. Just R80 per month.