Plea to allow students to register

Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister, Blade Nzimande, has urged colleges and universities not to deny National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funded students with outstanding payments to register for the current academic year.

During an update on the state of readiness for higher learning institutions on Tuesday, Nzimande called on NSFAS to speedily resolve all outstanding payments from last year.

He also urged institutions to refrain from denying any NSFAS -funded students with outstanding payments, to register for the current cycle.

“I’ve noted with concern that the main reason for the outstanding payments was due to reconciliations that NSFAS has been engaged with predominantly because of registration data changes. NSFAS needs to be more strict in 2024 on how it manages the registration adjustment process and institutions ought to submit their registration information accurately and timeously upon first submission,” Nzimande said.

NSFAS had initially said it would pay all 20 000 outstanding allowances by January 15, but it only settled 9 128 allowances and blamed universities for delays in the submission of registration data for the remaining students.

Nzimande announced that NSFAS would process up to R4.2 billion as an upfront payment to all government colleges and universities before the finalisation of applications and registrations.

Out of the financial reserves, the scheme plans to allocate R1 billion to colleges and R3.2 billion to universities.

This move aims to expedite the registration process for students relying on financial aid.

As of January 21, NSFAS has received 1.5 million bursary applications.

Minister Nzimande clarified that the scheme has already provisionally funded over 657 000 applicants, primarily South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) beneficiaries.

Addressing concerns about funding, Nzimande stated, “This thing that we are not funding, it is not true.”

He anticipated additional applications before the January 31 deadline for the 2024 application cycle.

Applicants are required to submit a consent form to verify information from third parties, such as Sassa and the South African Revenue Service (Sars). This information is crucial to verifying the employment status and income level of the applicant's parents.

“It is mandatory for applicants to download and upload a completed consent form on the NSFAS website, the NSFAS portal, or its mobile application.

Non-submission of the complete, accurate, and duly signed NSFAS form would disqualify a student from NSFAS funding,” Nzimande emphasised.

However, Sassa beneficiaries approved for funding are exempt from submitting these forms, as financial checks on the parents of the applicants are not conducted in these cases.

In 2024, the Living Allowance will be R16 500 for university students. The TVET Living Allowance will increase from R6 000 to R10 000.

NSFAS student debt recovery currently sits at over R40 billion rand, Nzimande said. Nzimande also warned potential students about unregistered private colleges.

“I want to once more send my warning to unsuspecting students and parents to be aware of what we call ‘bogus’ colleges which misleads members of the public through false advertisements which illegally promise to be offering both nationally and internationally recognised qualifications. I expect the public to be vigilant and not fall for fake operators who are not registered and recognised by the South African qualifications system.”

Meanwhile the DA’s shadow minister for Higher Education, Chantel King said the party had lodged a complaint against Nzimande with the joint committee on ethics and members’ interest in parliament.

The complaint relates to the allegations that Nzimande, received kickbacks from a NSFAS service provider.

There have been mounting calls from political parties, civil society organisations and student groups for the departure of Nzimande from the helm of the department, following the serious allegations that he and former NSFAS chair, Ernest Khosa, had received kickbacks from a service provider.

Khosa has taken a leave of absence to allow the investigation into the matter to take place.

Both Khosa and Nzimande have denied any wrongdoing.

King said: “It is crucial that this investigation determine whether the minister is guilty of ethical misconduct and if any public funds were indeed mismanaged. If the minister is innocent, as he proclaimed, although he has not yet provided any evidence to support his case, he should welcome the opportunity to clear his name.

“If the minister is guilty, however, he must be fired, as he would have violated the principles of selflessness,” King added.

The Mercury