Students in limbo as NSFAS fails to pay landlords
Some face eviction, others shown the door already
In two weeks Lerato Sibanda, a University of Limpopo student, will find herself homeless if she does not pay her rent at a NSFAS-accredited offcampus residence.
Sibanda, 21, said she has had trouble paying rent for the past three months as NSFAS has not disbursed her allowance.
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 they had to tap into their reserves to avoid students being thrown out into 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 the money is paid to the landlord account,” said Dzaga.
In a statement released yesterday, 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, Wits, Durban University of Technology, Lovedale TVET College and South West Gauteng TVET College.
Sibanda said: “I moved off campus this year, and now my landlord is saying 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.
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.
Regomoditswe Kobe, the 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. Petunia Katekani said they ended up finding shelter on campus after being soaked in the rain that has been 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.
‘‘ The landlord kicked us out into the rain