The protest follows NSFAS’s decision to defund students and withhold accommodation allowances, leading to evictions and deregistrations, despite students meeting funding criteria.
SASCO’s Mega Tshwane Chairperson, Kagisho Sedikila, said the protest was necessary after failed attempts to communicate with NSFAS.
“The only way to communicate is through email, which receives countless messages daily, with no responses. The call centre is also unresponsive,”
SASCO National Spokesperson Thuto Mashila described the defunding as a recurring system failure, with previously funded students losing support mid-year.
“We have students who were funded in January... but now are getting de-funded by NSFAS and their registration data... has not been transferred from universities to NSFAS, and this, of course, harms the academic performance of students.”
Mashila also noted that some accommodation providers are still owed money by NSFAS for previous years, putting students and landlords in difficult positions.
NSFAS stakeholder manager Ayabulela Mlisa accepted the memorandum, promising a formal response within seven days and a meeting with the Minister of Higher Education, Nobuhle Nkabane, by week’s end.
She has made a commitment that she will meet [with] the leadership of students before the end of this week. That will be before we even respond to the issues raised in the memorandum.
