‘I drink water, that’s the only thing I do’: students starve while NSFAS fiddles

A Unisa student walked about 35 minutes to a shopping mall in Komani in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday to charge her cellphone so she could complete an assignment.

Another was forced to use money she had set aside for electricity to pay the printing costs for an assignment.

As beneficiaries of the government’s National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), the two and thousands of other Unisa students have been left stranded because the institution hasn’t paid their monthly R290 living allowance since the start of the academic year.

They are also eligible for the one-off learning material allowance of R5,200 if they register for 10 or more modules this year. This has also not been paid. 

On Twitter students created the #UselessUnisa hashtag to vent their anger and frustration about non-payment of the allowances. 

They shared dozens of heartbreaking tweets about their dire financial situations and battles to complete assignments without data, textbooks and other learning materials.

Among the stories was a post by the Eastern Cape student who wrote: “It’s that time when you haven’t eaten for days and you keep asking neighbours to help you charge your phone so you can do assignments. You go around asking to do people’s laundry and cleaning just for data and to keep up with your assignments and food. Yeninani, life is not easy for some of us. Times are hard and I live in hope that Unisa will give us allowances soon as four days without food is no joke.”

The student, who lives in an informal settlement in Komani, told Sunday Times Daily she was forced to leave Pretoria at the end of last month and move back home because she was penniless.

“I used to wait in a queue in a street in Pretoria hoping people would hire me to do their washing and cleaning. If I got lucky, I received R150 a day. But these jobs were few and have dried up.”

Said the woman who is studying second-year law: “I was relying heavily on the R290 living allowance and had hoped it would have been paid by now.”

Sobbing uncontrollably, she told how she hadn’t eaten for days, adding: “I drink water, that’s the only thing I do. My grocery cupboard is bare. I console myself by saying I am on a fast just to make things better.”

She had planned to use the allowance to buy groceries and learning materials.

“There were times when I asked for help on WhatsApp groups.”

I drink water, that’s the only thing I do. My grocery cupboard is bare. I console myself by saying I am on a fast just to make things better.

She recounted how recently she tried to charge her phone at a neighbour’s house, but the woman closed the door in her face.

“They are tired of seeing my face,” said the student, who passed all four modules she registered for last year.

“The only thing I am pleading with Unisa to do is to please release our funds. I no longer have hope that by tomorrow they will release it, but maybe they will surprise me.”

She was desperate to complete her studies “because that’s the only thing I will have to fall back on”.

Another student, Nomkhosi Luvuno, from northern KwaZulu-Natal, said she was relieved after qualifying for a NSFAS bursary and being accepted by Unisa to enrol for the higher certificate in economics and management sciences.

Her registration was finalised on March 20.

“But little did I know that my dream would turn into a nightmare as I am still waiting to receive study material and the allowances.”

She said she did not anticipate the high study expenses she would incur while waiting for her allowance to be paid.

“I always need to have data to do assignments, online lectures and for downloading study materials while I wait for my official hard copy study materials to be sent to me.” 

But little did I know that my dream would turn into a nightmare as I am still waiting to receive study material and the allowances.

—  Student Nomkhosi Luvuno

Luvuno said: “How am I supposed to pass my course within the prescribed time if I do not have the resources I need to do my work? I need textbooks, stationery and a calculator for my assignments and I don’t have the money to buy them.”

According to students, Unisa put out a statement on Wednesday advising that returning NSFAS-funded students would start receiving their allowances from that afternoon.

“Allowances will be paid in batches of 15,000 per day until May 19. Allowances for new students will only be paid once NSFAS finalises the approved list,” the statement read.

But students aren’t convinced, saying a similar promise in the past had not been kept.

Unisa acknowledged a media enquiry that was e-mailed to it by Sunday Times Daily on Wednesday night, promising its media office would respond as soon as possible.

In another response on Thursday afternoon it said it was still awaiting a response from the CFO’s office.