After obtaining about 70% in matric and being admitted to one of the country’s top universities, Unathi Malgas* was over the moon.
The 18-year-old from Komani in the Eastern Cape has taken the first step towards obtaining a degree in economics at Stellenbosch University, but the first few weeks were not what she imagined.
For the first two weeks she had no place of her own, spending them in temporary university accommodation, where she shared a room with five others due to lack of space in campus residences. However, further distressing her is not knowing whether she will have a place at the university by the end of the first semester as she is yet to secure funding for her studies.
“I’ve been waiting for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme [NSFAS] to give me feedback on whether it will fund my studies. It’s been such a worry that I’m struggling to sleep at night. I’m still at a very low level of the application process, level 3, which evaluates whether you qualify. I even restrict my eating at the cafeteria ... What if I’m just accumulating debt for my mother, who cannot afford Stellenbosch University fees?”
Malgas is one of thousands of South African students who fall into the “missing middle” category — those who don't qualify for funding from NSFAS but can't afford to pay for their education.
To qualify for NSFAS a student’s household income must be R350,000 or less per year. This is seen as advantageous for poorer students, but many in the missing middle have to fork out their own fees, negotiate with universities or appeal NSFAS criteria.
Many of taxpaying lower-LSM families in this category, including teachers, nurses and police, say the NSFAS funding model is “creating a revolving door for poverty”. The missing middle has also been at the forefront of ongoing university protests about fee blocks and historical debt. This left many NSFAS-funded students unable to register because of monies owed.
Malgas, whose mother is a teacher, said falling into this category made her anxious.
“My mom earns a little more than R350,000, but we are three children solely dependent on her as my dad is not working. She has other household expenditures, including my siblings’ school fees, food, policies and other accounts. I know there is no way she can afford to pay my university fees ... That is why I’m struggling to sleep.
“My funding application is at a stage where I can either be eliminated or considered, but I’m really scared. What will I do if NSFAS doesn’t approve my funding? I can’t imagine having to go back home ... It will break my heart.”
Another first-year student, Palesa Witbooi*, said despite being provisionally funded after much intervention by the student representative council (SRC), “I will only have relief when I finally get approved as my mother is a single mom and cannot afford to pay for my university fees”.
“There is a certain level of anxiety because my mother is also a teacher, so technically I don’t qualify for funding.”
For two weeks she paid about R200 a day for public transport between her home and Stellenbosch University. Witbooi, who later found accommodation on campus, said like many first-year students, she struggled to secure a place due to an influx of university students who previously stayed in private residences. “After the NSFAS cap of R45,000 on accommodation was introduced, a lot of students couldn’t afford [where they were staying] and flocked back to campus. So as first-year students, we were stranded for weeks.”
In-house accommodation at Stellenbosch University ranges between R43,360 for a double room to R62,550 for a single room without meals.
A widowed single mother who only gave her name as Linda described the funding application process and finding accommodation as the “most painful experience”.
After visiting the university a few weeks ago, the mother of three said keeping a brave face in front of daughter, who didn’t qualify for NSFAS funding, was difficult.
She didn’t qualify for funding and didn’t have accommodation. I begged her to stay ... We prayed with her, asking her to stay, but she had already deregistered and there was no turning back. I wondered how many students must have lost hope and thrown in the towel like her?
“When I got to Stellenbosch University to assist her to find accommodation, she looked at me as a person who is a teacher that brings hope. Her application for NSFAS was still on stage 2 out of 7 stages.
“There was no hope for accommodation as they consider you for accommodation once you are provisionally funded. There were lots of kids that didn’t have accommodation. My child started to cry because she could see I’m helpless. I’m usually her source of hope, but on that day my negotiations to get her funding didn’t seem to go anywhere ... Doors were being shut in my face.
“My salary is a little bit above R350,000 before tax. I’ve got to pay for our home, I’ve got loans to pay, including the fees from her high school, and food. There is no way I could afford R70,000 for accommodation. I could not even afford to pay for the cheapest private accommodation.”
What really broke this mother’s heart was seeing a first-year student from Mpumalanga packing her bags.
“She didn’t qualify for funding and didn’t have accommodation. I begged her to stay ... We prayed with her, asking her to stay, but she had already deregistered and there was no turning back. I wondered how many students must have lost hope and thrown in the towel like her?”
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