- Funding denied after NSFAS communication failure.
- SRC races to secure emergency housing for eviction-threatened students.
- Campus Central management unavailable to address NSFAS eviction queries.
Application error caused by unclear NSFAS communication leads to housing crisis.
The Wits University Student Representative Council (SRC) has intensified efforts to provide emergency accommodation for students affected by a National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) application cycle miscommunication that has left dozens without funding.
The affected students unknowingly applied under the TVET cycle after NSFAS announced extended applications last year. NSFAS operates two primary funding cycles: the university cycle, in which applications typically open between September and November, and the TVET college cycle, where applications open several times a year to align with trimester or semester intakes.
According to the SRC Deputy President, Boipelo Setsepu, confusion arose when NSFAS extended the application deadline for both university and TVET students. However, unclear communication and the use of similar application platforms caused some university students to mistakenly apply under the TVET funding stream.
Setsepu said, since the start of 2025, approximately 65 Wits students have approached the SRC and Wits Citizenship and Community Outreach (WCCO) for help, as they are faced with eviction threats.
The SRC is urging all affected students to come forward by filling out the emergency accommodation form to ensure they can be assisted.
Priority is given to students directly affected by the error. “The process works as follows: you reach out to us via email or by filling in the form. From there, FASO will verify the information provided to ensure it is correct and confirm whether you applied during the TVET cycle. Once confirmed, you are then given priority.’’ said Setsepu.
Setsepu also highlighted that, priority is given to students in external accommodation facing eviction, as internal residence students are not at immediate risk.
Third-year Geology student, Botshelo Tshite, is one of the many Wits students caught in the NSFAS funding crisis. He says the problem only became clear in May, when his monthly allowance stopped coming in.
Soon after, his residence, Campus Central, began sending warnings that students who had not paid for the past few months would have their biometric access cut off. “That’s what happened to me,” he recalls, adding that he was later threatened with eviction.
Although he reached out to the SRC before the June holidays, help only came later. He was told to leave just a day before the second semester began.
Tshite says the experience was frightening, and believes his residence could have handled the situation with more care. “Even now, I’m being told to pay over R6,000 for the months NSFAS didn’t cover,” he said.
Wits Vuvuzela reached out to Campus Central residence management to request an interview regarding how they handle student matters beyond their control, such as the NSFAS miscommunication that affected Tshite. Residence manager Edwin Muchibwa said he was not authorized to give external interviews and referred the request to senior manager Johan Scheepers. However, Scheepers had not responded by the time of publication.
Efforts were made to contact NSFAS but its spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi’s phone kept ringing with no answer.
FEATURED IMAGE: Student Representative Council Offices. Photo: Dikeledi Ramabula
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