Whenever National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) officials appear before parliament, they present shocking figures of delays and mismanagement in a sombre yet somewhat detached manner.
Missing from the conversation about data integration problems, processing errors, paperwork and contracts, is an awareness of the problems students who have not received their promised funding face. Students should be worried about passing exams and writing essays. They should not have to worry where their next meal will come from. This is the reality of so many students: sleeping in corridors or ramshackle residences, relying on the donation box for food, cramming into tiny bathrooms for access to a basin.