NSFAS acknowledged its lack of preparedness in overseeing housing for funded students. To address this, they initiated an accommodation pilot project across 17 universities and 23 TVET colleges. This initiative aims to improve the availability of accredited, safer student housing through direct partnerships with private providers, managed via a new digital portal.
However, acting CEO Waseem Carrim revealed that the accommodation pilot was launched without proper feasibility studies, risk assessments, or clear policy and legal frameworks, leading to widespread issues and complaints from students, institutions, and landlords.
Carrim identified two main challenges: a shortage of safe student housing and an inefficient allocation process.
The current system's student accommodation allocation is ineffective and inefficient.
When on-campus beds are insufficient, NSFAS provides students with allowances to find their own accommodation, which Carrim admitted is not an ideal system.
Due to a lack of sufficient beds, we resort to paying students allowances to find their own housing, which is not a good operational approach.
Immediate Solutions
Carrim stated that NSFAS is finalizing the 2024 reconciliation of unpaid accommodation and managing claims and appeals, with a target completion date of 31 May 2025. In March, NSFAS directly paid accommodation allowances to 12,000 students and is now working with stakeholders to ensure these funds are transferred to landlords.
In March, we directly paid accommodation allowances to 12,000 students and are now collaborating with students, institutions, and landlords to ensure these payments reach the landlords.
The CEO also noted that the absence of a clear student accommodation policy has caused individual disputes at various institutions, citing the ongoing issues between the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), a partial participant in the pilot program, and private landlords regarding accreditation.
NSFAS has also set an annual cap of R25,000 for unaccredited accommodation to incentivize landlords to meet accreditation standards.
Long-Term Strategies
Carrim announced that student accommodation management was moved to the CEO’s office in early April.
Effective 1 April, the student accommodation function was transferred from the Corporate Services unit to the CEO’s office to implement the directive on student accommodation.
Furthermore, ENS Africa is conducting a legal review of the accommodation pilot to clarify NSFAS’s roles and responsibilities.
Discussions are planned with Universities South Africa (USAF) and the South African Public Colleges Organisation (SAPCO) to develop a transitional framework for institutions to resume responsibility for accommodation by 2026. Carrim emphasized the need for a fair, equitable, and transparent transfer that addresses the ongoing challenges in the long term, rather than simply shifting the problem from NSFAS to the institutions.
Our goal is for institutions to take back responsibility for accommodation, but this transfer must be fair, equitable, and transparent, ensuring a long-term resolution to the current challenges rather than just moving them from NSFAS to the institutions.
