Also behind the protests were complaints about the online allowance payment system which students claim is unreliable and has higher bank charges than some commercial banks. Last year the organisation awarded tenders to four companies to manage the payment system.
NSFAS CEO Andile Nongogo defended the payment method saying there was a consultation process with students and universities before the tender was awarded to the four companies.
"It was necessary for the scheme to make sure it continuously reviews its policies and where we find gaps, we then need to react and implement accordingly and therefore it was necessary for us to implement it [the payment system] now," said Nongogo.
He added that the system went through a pilot phase, which they did with technical colleges in November and moved to university this year in June.
"We [have] been paying college students since November last year, and we had actually intended to use the program in universities by the beginning of the year. We also had informed stakeholders and vice-chancellors that we would give them three months to come to terms with the system, and indeed, we did so," he added.
Khoza said in terms of banking charges said the charges were well studied and are convenient for NSFAS beneficiaries
"We settled on the 12 out of bundle monthly fee, this way, NSFAS beneficiaries have the convenience to transact in a manner and method that suits their vast geographical footprint across the country that boasts many retailers and ATMs," said Khoza.
The NSFAS board added that they continuously review the bank charges to ensure they are suitable for beneficiaries.
NSFAS kicks out over 31,000 dishonest beneficiaries
The NSFAS has defunded over 31,000 dishonest and underserving students.
On Monday the organisation said it originally kicked out 45,927 illegitimate students from its books, after they were found to have submitted incorrect information when applying for funding. The organisation used state departments like Sars, the Department of Home Affairs, the South African State Security Agency and credit bureaus to verify the information of the beneficiaries and after re-evaluation, funding was reinstated for 14,703 students while the rest (31,224) remained defunded.
"For example, students would provide correct parental relationships in their first application attempt, and when they get rejected due to the financial status of those parents; and when they reapply, they submit different parental relationships. When we did reevaluation, our system picks up the original information previously submitted," said the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson Enerst Khoza.
The stringent verification process started this year after NSFAS found that it lost R5bn by funding 40,000 undeserving applicants between 2018 and 2021. Those funds have not been recovered.
The defunding of students has been a contentious issue which has led to student protests recently. Some students claim to have been defunded unfairly.
Also behind the protests were complaints about the online allowance payment system which students claim is unreliable and has higher bank charges than some commercial banks. Last year the organisation awarded tenders to four companies to manage the payment system.
NSFAS CEO Andile Nongogo defended the payment method saying there was a consultation process with students and universities before the tender was awarded to the four companies.
"It was necessary for the scheme to make sure it continuously reviews its policies and where we find gaps, we then need to react and implement accordingly and therefore it was necessary for us to implement it [the payment system] now," said Nongogo.
He added that the system went through a pilot phase, which they did with technical colleges in November and moved to university this year in June.
"We [have] been paying college students since November last year, and we had actually intended to use the program in universities by the beginning of the year. We also had informed stakeholders and vice-chancellors that we would give them three months to come to terms with the system, and indeed, we did so," he added.
Khoza said in terms of banking charges said the charges were well studied and are convenient for NSFAS beneficiaries
"We settled on the 12 out of bundle monthly fee, this way, NSFAS beneficiaries have the convenience to transact in a manner and method that suits their vast geographical footprint across the country that boasts many retailers and ATMs," said Khoza.
The NSFAS board added that they continuously review the bank charges to ensure they are suitable for beneficiaries.