Who is SAUS and what you need to know about them

by | Aug 15, 2016 | News

With all the excitement around #FeesMustFallReloaded, there’s one name that seems to be at the center of it all: The South African Union of Students (SAUS), but who are they?

SAUS is a student union that is elected by SRC’s from universities across the country and therefore represent all Student Representative Councils in the country.

They have been speaking for students at the Fees Commision’s public hearings which began last week and on Sunday SAUS released a statement calling for mass meetings across universities on the issue of fee increments.

According to the SAUS Secretary General Sthembiso Ka-Ndlovu the union was established at Stellenbosch University in 2006, it’s main purpose was so that students had a single representative body in the higher education sector.

They union is said to be a national and non-partisan umbrella body of student representation in the country.

However people on social media have been questioning the legitimacy of SAUS and the fact that it is mostly comprised of Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) members, an organisation made up of mostly ANC-affiliated youth organisations.

Ka-Ndlovu says there is a heavy PYA presence in SAUS because SRC’s elect the members and “of the 25 Universities about 19 of them are SASCO-led.”

Who is in the executive?

President: Avela Mjajubala – Durban University of Technology

Deputy President: Moza Motlalepula – North West University

Secretary General: Sthembiso Ka-Nkosi – Tshwane University of Technology

Deputy Secretary General: Fasiha Hassan – Wits University

Treasurer: Misheck Mugabe – Fort Hare University.

People who can be nominated to represent students in SAUS have to have been part of the SRC in the last two years prior to being elected.

The union currently has 15 members.

Related stories:

Wits Vuvuzela: SAUS to begin mobilising from Monday as fee increase looms, August 14, 2016

Wits Vuvuzela: Treasury says no money to fund zero percent fee increase, August 14, 2016

Treasury says no money to fund zero percent fee increase

by | Aug 14, 2016 | News

By Ayanda Mgede and Laura Pisanello

The National Treasury has said that they have not budgeted for a zero percent fee increase for 2017, causing speculation that another series of #FeesMustFall protests could be possible.

The statement was made on Friday at the Fees Commission and coincided with a report by the Council of Higher Education (CHE) stating that another 0% increase in 2017 would not be possible as university fee increases should at least be on par with inflation. They recommended an increase of 6.3% for both tuition and registration fees. The CHE also cautioned that without an increase in fees, universities would be in a worse financial position.

The CHE also included in the report its recommendation to increase the state subsidy to universities by R5.7 billion in 2017/18 therefore allowing universities to recover some of their shortfall caused by the 0% increase in 2016. The CHE did, however, caution that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) would still have a shortfall of R300 million.

The CHE proposed a blanket increase for all universities that would essentially ensure that students see no fee increase between 2016 and 2017, possibly with the exemption of some residence fees.

But the National Treasury said on Friday that when the announcement for a 0% increase was made the budget had already been planned for the next few years, making it very difficult for the Treasury to reallocate funds to higher education. Michael Sachs, who presented on behalf of the National Treasury, said that they had budgeted on fee increases for the following years.

At a town hall meeting last week, Wits Vice Chancellor Adam Habib said that that Wits would need an 8% increase for 2017, if the university did not receive an increased subsidy from the government.

Mzwanele Ntshwanti, the projects, media and campaigns officer for the Wits Student Representative Council (SRC) and member of the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) told Wits Vuvuzela that they opposed any fee increase.

“We still don’t want any increment, SAUS (South African Union of Students) doesn’t want any increment, SRC doesn’t want any increment, no one wants a fee increment and we are still trying to negotiate and see what can come out,” Ntshwanti said.

He also told Wits Vuvuzela that a statement regarding a possible national shutdown would be released shortly.

NSFAS teams up with Sars to track down defaulters

by | Jul 17, 2016 | News

Defaulting students will have their contact details handed over by tax authorities, Sars to NSFAS for loan repayment purposes.  

NSFAS-Logo

 

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) says it will use personal information obtained from the SA Revenue Service (Sars) to chase people who not heed to their call for repayments of their loans when they get jobs.

Last week, SARS last week permits NSFAS to have access to further non-financial information of former students with unpaid student loans.

“NSFAS will make contact with your employer to confirm employment and then contact you (the debtor) to discuss repayments in line with the signed loan agreement,” said NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo.

The information of those former NSFAS scheme beneficiaries registered with Sars will reveal the ID numbers, addresses, contact details and employers’ names. Sars revealed last week that the new provision falls the Tax Administration Act, which allows SARS to provide other non-financial information such as addresses and other contact details.

Mamabolo said defaults in repayments of loans prompted this move.  “Most debtors were not heeding our call for them to inform us as soon as they find jobs, leading to us struggling to confirm if they are working or not.  Sars will be able to assist us with that information, in cases where the concerned individuals are not coming forward,” said Mamabolo.

Students are required to start repaying their loans if they earn R30 000 or more annually.  Payments start at 3% of debtors’ annual salary, increasing to a maximum of 8% when the salary reaches R59 300 or more per year.

NSFAS said action will be taken against former students who fail to repay while employed as the scheme is a registered credit provider.

“The scheme reserves the right to follow the normal debt recovery process which may lead to action taken against those who fail to repay loans even though they can afford to do so,” said Mamabolo.

Two months ago, minister of higher education and training, Blade Nzimande, said in parliament that NSFAS had spent R41.1-billion in loans and R20.4-billion in bursaries between 2000 and 2015.

In the wake of #FeeMustFall protests, the government raised its contribution towards NSFAS from R6.5-billion in 2015/16 to R11.4-billion this year.  Part of the amount aimed at helping the “missing middle” students, whose parents earned over the required maximum to qualify for the loan, still couldn’t afford the fees.

Tax records, however will not be part of the information given to NSFAS.

 

Related articles:

Wits Vuvuzela; NSFAS repayment for what? 

Wits Vuvuzela; SRC aims to raise one million rand for excluded NSFAS students

Wits Vuvuzela; Wits management and SRC reach agreement on NSFAS