EDITORIAL | New allowance payment system has failed students NSFAS is supposed to help
The new NSFAS system, contracted out to four companies, is worse than the previous one and must be fixed quickly
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) — which exists to help poor students who would not be able to study without its support — has made a drastic change to the way it operates, causing not only great confusion but also sparking new violence on our campuses. NSFAS, which the department of higher education funds, has awarded four companies contracts to pay allowances to students, instead of trusting universities to make the payments on behalf of NSFAS. The rollout of this new system has hit several obstacles, causing at least four universities to shut down face-to-face lectures as protesters voiced their anger...
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