NSFAS Faces Backlash as Students Struggle with Unpaid Rent, Threat of Eviction

Student leader Keamogetswe Masike has taken a bold stance against the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) as thousands of students find themselves facing eviction due to unpaid rent. Masike, the current president of the National Students Forum, has been inundated with distress calls from around 2,000 students at institutions like the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).

The students shared harrowing stories of being evicted from their residences because of NSFAS’s failure to pay their rent for months on end, highlighting the dire circumstances many of them are now enduring.

Masike, who was previously suspended as the TUT SRC president for advocating on behalf of disadvantaged students, expressed deep concern over the impact of NSFAS’s inefficiencies on students’ academic pursuits. He stressed that corruption within the financial aid scheme is a major factor contributing to its inability to fulfill its obligations.

Students at Dalindyebo Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College in the Eastern Cape are also grappling with similar challenges, further underscoring the widespread nature of the issue.

NSFAS, while acknowledging the students’ predicament, assured that it is addressing the problem and promised that affected students would receive their allowances promptly. The scheme’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, urged landlords with outstanding payments not to evict students during this critical period.