“Voetsek Blade, amandla awethu!” echoed through the streets of the Cape Town CBD yesterday morning as hundreds of university students marched to Parliament to complain about ongoing money issues with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Students from Stellenbosch University, CPUT and UWC took to the streets to demand an intervention from government to find solutions for NSFAS’s problematic new payment system, as well as hundreds of students being defunded for various reasons.
Earlier this year, NSFAS awarded contracts to Coinvest Africa, Tenet Technology, eZaga Holdings and Norraco Corporation to do direct payments to students.
However, according to angry students, they are unable to access their bursary money and if they do, it’s never paid on time.
In addition, they are saddled with hefty bank charges.
Students gathered at CPUT’s District Six Campus and marched towards Parliament, saying they are gatvol of NSFAS taking them for a gat.
Arno Carolus, 26, a second-year psychology student from Stellenbosch University, says that he just wants his money so that he can focus on his studies.
“The money that was set out for us as students isn't coming to us, we are starving on campus, our res is in jeopardy. It can’t go on because we can’t study on empty stomachs,” he explains.
“Ons is hier om ‘n boodskap te gee dat ons ons geld soek!”
Student leadership from the three universities handed over a memorandum to members of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation.
The memorandum states that the higher education ministry should take immediate action and consult with SRCs, launch a special investigation into NSFAS, review the defunding of students, and also scrap the 60 credit cap and NSFAS service providers.
Mandla-Onke Notyawa, president of UWC SRC, says that the memorandum comes after they tried several other avenues to engage with Nzimande.
“We are here today, asking the people who have been elected in office to assist us to hold Blade Nzimande and the president accountable for their failure to deal with NSFAS.”
The student leadership has given the Portfolio Committee 24 hours to respond.
Committee member Tebogo Letsie says the chairperson will respond on Thursday.
“We have scheduled a meeting with NSFAS to come and explain to us how they have arrived at certain positions if they are contracted with performance plans,” Letsie says.
Mandla says they hope the Portfolio Committee is going to act and ensure that the government meets with them “or all hell will break loose”.
“We want to sit down with the minister and for him to hear what we are against,” Mandla says.
byron.lukas@inl.co.za