No NSFAS payment, no food for students

Charles Madira, a second year mechanical engineering student, has stopped going to lectures and instead hunts for piece jobs like gardening to feed himself. 

Madira is one of a group of more than 1,000 students in the Free State who have not been receiving their National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances since the beginning of the year. They have not been able to buy food or pay for their private accommodation while others are facing evictions from their fed-up landlords in and around Sasolburg. 

“I am starting to lose hope. I have not paid the landlord for four months and he is losing his patience. I am just scared he will evict us,” said Madira, who lives in commune with several other students who find themselves in the same desperate position as him. 

“I don't have food. I have had to ask for gardening work in order to survive,” said Madira, who is doing second year at Flavius Mareka College. 

From last month he has been looking for work from some of the homeowners in Astro, and when lucky he'd be paid R200 and buy food with it. “I don't have parents and I'm relying on NSFAS. My grandmother who gets a government grant is already supporting my brother and paying for other essentials at home in Limpopo,” said Madira.

He opened his grocery cupboard for Sowetan, and only a packet of salt was inside and the communal fridge was bare.

Last week, students from his college took to the streets demanding that NSFAS give them their allowances and pay for their accommodation. The students have since decided not to go to class in protest.

Campus manager Nkano Mohlaphuli said the college management is in constant contact with NSFAS. “Students accommodation and allowances will eventually be paid on April 17,” she said.

NSFAS spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said most students who were affected were those who were not included when student names were submitted by institutions to the student aid programme.

“NSFAS receives a comprehensive list of students who have applied for accommodation through the NSFAS accommodation portal; this list is subsequently verified by the institution to determine whether students qualify for NSFAS-accredited accommodation or transport.

“Unfortunately, at the time of payment, some students who received direct payments were not included in this list, nor were they confirmed by the institution as eligible for accommodation,” said Mnisi.

Regional secretary of SA Students Congress, Thabang Sephula, said they have started receiving donations from their lecturers, residents and business people in the area to feed the affected students. He said they feed about 150 students a day. 

Several students were seen queuing on campus and getting food packets packed in shopping trolley from the SRC. 

Businessman Letsima Tootse arrived with braai packs and maize meal to donate. He said a student had told him about their desperate plight. 

“I was told that some of them don't have anything, even sanitary towels, so it is a crisis that we feel we are obligated to assist,” he said.

Last week, Khanya Sikhulume, a first year student from the Eastern Cape, was evicted and had to squat with friends after she failed to pay rent. However, her landlord had a change of heart and gave her until the end of the month for her accommodation to be paid. 

Her parents have been able to give her R500 per month to support her. “In terms of food, it becomes difficult. The money from home is not enough because I also need toiletries as well.”

The situation has also forced some landlords to use their own money to keep their business running.

Sikhulume's landlord Sipado Vena said: “I use my own money now to buy water and electricity and to pay WiFi, the one I evicted is because she is new and [past experience] has taught me that new students tend to run away when they get money from NSFAS ... but I will take her back. I spend about R2,500 a month on water and electricity and WiFi. I will give them until April 25 then I will decide on what to do.”

Some students at the University of the Free State's QwaQwa campus were also experiencing payment issues with NSFAS, which escalated to a protest last week. 

University spokesperson Lacea Loader said they had to move classes to online due to “disruptive behaviour of students”.

“The executive management has confirmed that they are in contact with NSFAS to resolve the matter,” she said. — Additional reporting by Herman Moloi

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