The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has defunded 45,927 students nationally, including some who submitted false information and supporting documents when applying for financial aid.
NSFAS, funded by the department of higher education, provides bursaries to students from poor and working class families. To qualify, a student’s combined annual household income must not exceed R350,000.
The financial aid scheme told TimesLIVE Premium that after assistance from third party verification sources, it found some students had submitted false information and supporting documents during their application.
“As a result of this, NSFAS had to withdraw the funding for these cohorts and make provision for deserving students.”
Rikus Delport, spokesperson for the University of Pretoria, confirmed recently that about 800 students were unfunded by NSFAS. “They now require funding as they have been registered based on the initial funding status provided by NSFAS.”
NSFAS confirmed its executive management will hold a media briefing on Monday about the statutory body’s state of affairs.
Among the issues to be discussed are the scheme’s new direct payment system for allowances and the defunding of “undeserving students”.
NSFAS awarded five-year renewable contracts to fintech companies Tenet Technology, eZaga, Norraco Corporation and Coinvest Africa to pay allowances directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries studying at the country’s 26 public universities and 50 Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVet) colleges.
There has been an outcry from students over the controversial direct payment system which sparked a march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria last Wednesday.
North West University (NWU), the University of the Free State (UFS) and Vaal University of Technology (VUT) were forced to close their campuses for in-person lectures last week after student protests over excessive bank charges levied under the new system.
Deductions from students’ monthly allowance of R1,650 includes a standard R12 for banking fees, a charge of R10 for ATM withdrawals plus R2.50 for every R100 withdrawn.
Previously, the allowances were paid by the universities or service providers contracted by them.
Durban University of Technology (DUT) spokesperson Alan Khan said the institution will implement online learning from Monday until further notice after the recent student protests.
“Over the last few days, the university faced unwarranted protests that disrupted lectures and more distressingly, led to instances of intimidation and threats aimed at DUT’s staff and non-protesting students.”
The new system has just been implemented and it will need to be monitored for a period of time before a conclusion can be made.
— Sol Plaatje University spokesperson Qondakele Sompondo
He said the main issue raised by protesters involved the direct payments that NSFAS recipients receive.
“DUT was not involved in the payment process nor was it involved in the appointment of the supplier.”
Khan confirmed that while a total of 21,165 students were paid their allowances on August 1, according to a report from NSFAS, the university’s records indicate 1,051 were not paid.
While some universities told TimesLIVE Premium the majority of students had received their allowances, others indicated that students were unhappy about the bank charges.
Wits University and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) said the majority of their students had received their July allowance.
CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said: “We had a small number of students complaining about the service, fees and not being able to access the funds with virtual cards.”
Vaal University of Technology (VUT) spokesperson Kediemetse Mokotsi said they were aware of students’ concerns, and higher bank charges when doing transactions.
“Most importantly, many students have yet to receive their June and July allowances.”
Classes were suspended at VUT last Thursday and Friday because of student protests.
Sol Plaatje University spokesperson Qondakele Sompondo said students complained about the excessive bank charges during the initial meeting with the service provider.
“The new system has just been implemented and it will need to be monitored for a period of time before a conclusion can be made.”
Takalani Dzaga, spokesperson for the University of Venda, said some students complained that despite being funded by NSFAS, their names were not on the payment file.
“Students are complaining about not getting their full allowance and getting charged when transferring money from the NSFAS bank account to their personal bank accounts.”
Walter Sisulu University spokesperson Mathabo Hendricks said: “Students have been complaining about excessive bank charges. The payment system is worse than the service provider which was appointed by the university.”
Lusani Netshitomboni, spokesperson for the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, said they received no formal student complaints.
Unisa’s spokesperson Tommy Huma said they had not been given an update on the payment of allowances by NSFAS and Coinvest Africa, the banking partner allocated to Unisa, since July.
“We therefore do not know of the number of students paid allowances to date.”
NSFAS said because it was not a banking institution, “it necessitated the appointment of fintech companies to assist in the creation of bank accounts for beneficiaries”.
The scheme said an agreement to revisit the bank charges and agree on final amounts was reached in April and May with the South African Technical and Vocational Education and Training Student Association (SATVETSA) and the South African Union of Students (SAUS) respectively.
“The fee started at R89 and now it is a R12 pay-as-you-transact.”
Commenting on complaints by some students from CPUT not being able to access funds with virtual cards, NSFAS said they were not aware of these cases.
“We will engage with CPUT for details of the affected students and provide an informed response.”
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