Students in limbo as NSFAS fails to pay landlords

In two weeks, Lerato Sibanda, a student at the University of Limpopo, will find herself homeless if she does not pay her rent at a NSFAS-accredited off-campus residence.

Sibanda, 21, said she has had trouble paying rent for the past three months as the National Student Funding Scheme has not disbursed her allowances. 

The universities of Limpopo and Venda said students have been unable to pay landlords at private NSFAS- accredited accommodation due to lack of funding from the scheme, resulting in the institutions having to step forward.

University of Venda spokesperson Takalani Dzaga said the university had to tap into its reserves to avoid students being thrown out onto the streets.

"For the past two months we have been using our funds to pay the landlords for the sake of our students. Once the money is paid into the university, it is transferred into the students' account through the service provider, Fundi, and the student is the one that should ensure that the money is paid to the landlord account," said Dzaga.

In a statement released on Tuesday, NSFAS said it had paid a total of about R7.4m for accommodation.

Institutional residences were paid close to R2.8m and private accommodation R4.7m.

However, according to the scheme, 12 institutions and two TVET colleges did not receive funding for April because they had only given the scheme their registration data on March 19 after the payment file was generated.

These institutions included the University of Venda, University of Limpopo, University of the Witwatersrand, Durban University of Technology, Lovedale TVET College and South West Gauteng TVET College.

Sibanda said the lack of funding puts her in a difficult position. “I moved off campus this year and my landlord has told me that if I don’t pay at the end of the month, I will have to leave. I don’t have the R1,500 and there’s nothing my parents can do.”

Sibanda said if NSFAS does not release her allowance she will have no choice but to return home to Olievenhoutbosch, a township in Centurion outside Pretoria.

“I don’t have money for rent or food. I have had to ask friends for food. I will have no choice but to go home. I’ll come back once NSFAS solves the problem but if I can’t, I will have to deregister,” said Sibanda. 

A 21-year-old returning student at Walter Sisulu University said he was given until the end of March to move out and is currently squatting at a friend's place in the hope NSFAS will pay the rent soon.

“I don’t really have a choice but to wait until I get the allowance. I don’t care who is supposed to distribute the funds, I just want to know why we haven’t been given our allowances and when it’s going to get fixed because it’s not fair to me or to my friend who now has to accommodate me," said the student who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation. 

Regomoditswe Kobe, spokesperson for eZaga, the fund distributor on behalf of NSFAS, said it notified students at the University of Limpopo and Tshwane University of Technology that there will be delays in the disbursement of the April funds. 

“This delay is due to an issue on the side of NSFAS and is not related in any way to eZaga. eZaga remains fully committed to honouring the payments of students as soon as NSFAS resolves this matter and releases the payments to us so we can pay,” said Kobe.

A group of Enhlazeni FET College students from Mapulaneng campus in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, were evicted on Sunday evening for failing to pay their monthly rentals. 

Petunia Katekani, a student at the college, said they ended up finding shelter on campus after being soaked in the rain pounding the country since the weekend. 

“We thought we would get the allowance in the first week of April but we didn’t... and NSFAS did not pay for the previous month as well. The landlord kicked us out and it was raining and cold, so we went to the college to find shelter,” said Katekani.