by Lwandile Fikeni | Feb 24, 2017 | News
A twitter storm brewed last weekend after a number of Wits students alleged that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) had withdrawn funding offers with scant explanation for its actions.
They addressed their heated allegations to Wits SRC Treasurer General Thando Mntambo, who immediately took up their grievances and included @myNSFAS in the twitter conversation.
“We have so far received numerous emails from students confirming that this is indeed happening,” said Mntambo when contacted by Wits Vuvuzela.
“We first have to understand the issue before tackling it, so the first thing being done is the collection of the database to scope the immensity of the problem while in the interim we are pursuing the channels available to us to try and get answers to this question, after which we will do what is necessary to solve the problem,” Mntambo said.
Sharon Ndlovu, a second year BA Law student, was one of the students who approached the SRC via twitter.
“I applied last year through Wits and in January I got a notification that my application was received,” Ndlovu wrote.
Ndlovu said that her application status was changed to “financial eligibility evaluated” but then last Friday, February 17, she got an SMS informing her that her application was unsuccessful due to the institution she chose. The correspondence, which has been seen by Wits Vuvuzela, advised her to apply to a TVET college and “your application may be reconsidered”.
When Ndlovu called NSFAS to query this they sang a different tune.
“They said they are short of funds,” Ndlovu said.
NSFAS Spokesperson, Kagisho Mamabolo, clarified the confusion to Wits Vuvuzela: “All returning students who received NSFAS in 2016 were advised not to apply online because they were going to be funded automatically should they pass 50% of their modules.”
He said that those who didn’t follow the guidelines and applied online had created duplication of their details on the system as NSFAS had made advanced arrangements with universities to enrol them without having to apply.
“Therefore the system automatically rejected their application because they are already funded and are in class,” said Mamabolo.
“They shouldn’t panic and should proceed to study as normal,” he said.
However, all returning students who did not have NSFAS in the previous years (including 2016) and had applied for 2017, and were unsuccessful, are advised to appeal, not enrol in a TVET College, he said.
Sharon Ndlovu is a new applicant, and since the clarification by NSFAS, has appealed the rejection of her application.
Students have until February 28 to appeal their declined applications for funding.
by Nozipho Mpanza | Feb 17, 2017 | News
NSFAS has invited students who have been rejected for funding in 2017 to reapply before the end of February. (more…)
by Nozipho Mpanza | Aug 5, 2016 | News
The relationship distance between students and NSFAS is drawing narrower with the introduction of the new student centered model. (more…)
by Sisa Canca | Jul 17, 2016 | News
Defaulting students will have their contact details handed over by tax authorities, Sars to NSFAS for loan repayment purposes.
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
by Nasya Smith | May 17, 2016 | News
Students who have been squatting on campus and in libraries have finally been placed in permanent accommodation. (more…)
by Tanisha Heiberg | Feb 17, 2016 | Featured 1, News
The student, Lindelani Myeza, who allegedly committed suicide at Durban University of Technology (DUT) due to lack of funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), did receive funding according to the Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande. (more…)
by Michelle Gumede | Jan 15, 2016 | Featured 1
By Thabiso Modiba
My name is Thabiso Modiba and I grew up with my two sisters, mother and father in rural Limpopo, Mabopane district. And I’m the only guy, the first-born. It was tough, with no electricity and running water, life is tough. The only truck that brings water is the one from the municipality that comes once a week. You have to take a bucket and go queue for water.
Since I was young, I have always wanted to be a doctor. When I was young, my mother got sick. We were living in a rural village and whenever we’d go to the clinic they’d say, “The doctors not here”, sometimes for days. I would get angry because my mom would be very sick and there was no doctor to help her. But when you come here, to the city, there are many. But that side where I’m living they are scarce.
HIGH HOPES: If he can find the money to pay for his tuition Thabiso Modiba hopes to become a medical doctor one day. Photo: Michelle Gumede
My father earns about R5900 and sometimes is working at a construction company that deals with tenders. They build schools and those sort of things.
I don’t wanna lie, I never slept that day before matric results came out. I was watching TV on the fifth and they were announcing the results officially. There’s no electricity in the area but we take chances and connect cables, just so we can get an update on what’s happening with the matric results.
Through the post office, I applied in 2015 to five universities UP, UL, UJ, SMU and Wits. I got the application form to come to Wits from my father. He knows one of the security guards from Wits. I posted applications and the money required for each too. Costs differ from tertiary to tertiary, at Wits it was about the R100 and other universities it was R200 or R300. It’s like betting for the lotto, you don’t know when or where you’re going to win.
I was stressed on January 6 because Wits had said they’d send me an sms as soon as the matric results came out. I was anxious about how my results were gonna be. I was praying the whole day and night.
In the morning I got my results from my school, but still no sms from Wits. I preferred Wits because the communication was good. They communicated with me throughout the year through email. The other universities just sent me sms’s saying they acknowledge my application and will await my matric results. They also said that I have to submit my results face to face, whereas Wits just got them through the system.
So I was panicking. It was only on January 7 when I received an email from Wits with an offer to study chemical engineering and medicine. I accepted medicine so they said I must come and pay the registration fees of about R9340 before the day of enrolment.
Immediately, I called some of my relatives, for money. They were happy because my matric results were good, so they managed to put the money together for registration plus R400 for a bus.
I arrived in Johannesburg for the very first time in my life on Thursday January 8. My father who was in Soweto at the time had no idea where Wits was, so I had to ask people for directions at Park Station. They told me to walk to Bree then I would find the campus after crossing Nelson Mandela Bridge. I walked this by foot with my R9340 registration fee in my bag. That’s when I found myself in Wits. The big buildings were intimidating, I was afraid. I’m a rural boy and it’s the first time that I saw so many different people in such a busy place.
HALF WAY THERE: Modiba has registered at Wits but is yet to come up with the money for tuition. Photo: Michelle Gumede
When I got here I was directed to the enrolment center where I was shown to the financial office. I paid registration and made my four-hour trip home. When I left Wits I was a little bit happy because it was promising that I’m in. I got home and my parents were panicking that I’d just paid and only been told to come back to Wits on Monday. You know when parents pay money they want to see proof that something is happening. R9340 is a lot of money, they’ve never had that kind of money in their hands before.
On Monday I had to wake up early in the morning to catch the 4am bus so I could be here by seven. When I got to Hall 29, students had blocked the way saying #FeesMustFall. We were told to go back home or do it online. Eish, I felt like the world was turning against me because I came from so far. I didn’t understand what was going on and neither did my parents when I called them to tell them. I went back home again coz there was no place to stay so I had to spend more money.
At home my parents didn’t trust what I said about the strike, they thought I was deliberately wasting money.
MONEY WOES: His parents didn’t trust what he said about the #FMF2016 strike, they thought he was deliberately wasting money. Photo: Michelle Gumede
On Tuesday, January 12, I got an email saying I could come and fetch my student card anytime and I heard from the news that registration was happening on Wednesday. I was there preparing money to travel again. It was only because I did so well at school that even my high school teachers and neighbors helped to put together money. They just want to see me at Wits doing medicine.
I arrived in Joburg at 8am on January 14, collected my student card and registration bag. I’m happy but worried at the same time.
Although I applied for funding from NSFAS they said I don’t qualify. I also applied for funds at the Limpopo Department of Health last year and the Motsepe Foundation this year but I still don’t have funds for my tuition and accommodation. I’m gonna be contacting the department telling them that I got accepted at Wits, maybe they can help me and speed up my application. I have until February 8. If fees had fallen maybe it would be better.
As told to Michelle Gumede
by Tanisha Heiberg | Sep 19, 2015 | Featured 1
After violent student protests on campus, The University of KwaZulu-Natal has closed its residences
![The Howard College building on the Howard College campus at the UKZN. Photo: Ryan Holder Ryanglobal (Legal Beagles [1]) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://witsvuvuzela.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Howard_college-600x450.jpg)
The Howard College building on the Howard College campus at the UKZN. Photo: Ryan Holder Ryanglobal (Legal Beagles [1]) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
All student residences at The University of KwaZulu-Natal have been temporally closed after violent student protest broke out on campus this week
Students barricaded roads and burnt cars outside the university, protesting against the change in requirements for student funding from National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), according to Eyewitness News.
This comes after the funding requirements were changed from 50 percent to 70 percent.
A statement by the university was emailed to all students and required all students to vacate the residences by noon on Friday according to News24. In the statement Vice Chancellor and Principal Dr Albert van Jaarsveld requested the students leave “in context of the continued violence, the unwarranted arson, the unprecedented destruction of property, and the threats to the safety and security in residences and UKZN campuses”.
“Legal residence students will be allowed back into the residences on Sunday, 27 September 2015”, said van Jaarsveld.
Last week students were removed from a Westville campus residence after it was torched and a private bus contracted by the university to transport students was burnt, according to iol news.
All academic programs were suspended on Wednesday according to News 24. University spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka told News24 that the decision to suspend the programmes was regrettable considering that it was so close to the end of the academic year.
The KwaZulu-Natal police arrested two suspects in connection with the violence at the Westville campus, according to Eyewitness News.
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane told iol that a case of public violence has been opened.
Despite the safety concerns many students have expressed concerns about not being able to afford alternative accommodation or being able to journey, sometimes to other provinces, to return home.
Some of these student have turned to social media to express their concerns like this comment on a post on the UKZN Facebook page: “ We are being chased like dogs, like we did not pay for res…The red ants will have to scoop me up from my room”.
by Tanisha Heiberg | Sep 18, 2015 | Featured 1
Witwatersrand University will pay the outstanding NSFAS fees from the 2014 despite announcing earlier in the year that they were unable to cover the shortfall.
The Great Hall atl Witwatersrand University Photo: Wiki commons
Wits has confirmed that it will fully cover R35.2 million in debt, interest free, from the outstanding fees owed by students from 2014 that had not been paid by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The confirmation follows a Wits SRC statement released via its Facebook page and will help up to 708 students.
The agreement with the university and the SRC,which was reached earlier this year, outlined that outstanding fees would be paid by the university and NSFAS, with the loan agreement conditions remaining.
However, the university has now agreed to cover the full amount of the outstanding fees. This mean that the amount the students signed for on their 2014 NSFAS loan agreement forms and the acknowledgement of debt forms signed at the beginning of this year will be covered by the university.
This development means that the students will not be charged interest for the debt and it will in effect be more like a bursary instead of a loan from the university.
The payment for the outstanding debts comes despite the university stating earlier in the year that it was unable to cover the NSFAS shortfall.
SRC president Shareera Kalla said that the SRC had been in negotiations with the university as they were not satisfied with the terms given to the students by the university. “The terms set out by the university were not the same as those given by NSFAS.”
Kalla said “We feel like it was a great achievement… It is great to see the university covering the fees as a bursary rather than a loan.”
Wits chief financial officer Linda Jarvis said the university had found extra funds for the outstanding fees despite previously being over budget.
“The university has reallocated designated funds it had earmarked for other purposes including bursaries,” Jarvis said.
Zoe Buthelezi, a student who had outstanding fees from 2014 and who may be helped by the new payment, explained that many students did not understand the terms of the loans when they signed.
“Everyone is supposed to know what’s going on so they don’t bother explaining it to you … You don’t know what you’re signing or how much you’re going to pay or how the whole payment works they just point out where to sign,” Buthelezi said.
Buthelezi said she would be very happy if the university paid off her fees. “I don’t care as long as they pay everything interest free… I’m only 22 years old and already I’m in debt of R52 000 and don’t even have a job.”
Financial Aid Office manager Ennie Kubeka said the university may spend less than the R35.2 million.
“We expect it [the amount] to be lower once a full reconciliation has been completed. It should be noted that on the initial list some of the students have since received alternative funding,” Kubeka said.
Kubeka explained there are still 708 students who have outstanding fees from 2014 and that the university wants to close the matter with the students.
The students that were not covered by NSFAS last year were unable to access their results or register for 2015 unless they signed the acknowledgement of debt form.
Jarvis said the reason for the acknowledgement of debt was to allow students to register in 2015 even though they had outstanding debt in 2014 relating to NSFAS loans.
Over 2 000 students were unable to register at Wits this year due to NSFAS facing a funding shortage.NSFAS is a bursary and loan scheme which is funded by the National department of higher education in order for students to have access to tertiary qualifications. These loans are usually charged at low interest rates.
by Staff Reporter | Aug 21, 2015 | Lifestyle
To the editor of the Wits Vuvuzela,
I am writing as a concerned student in response to the Wits Vuvuzela’s article “One Million, One Month falls short” which appeared on the front page of the August 7 edition.
Let me start by making a point. Initiatives like the One Million, One Month campaign, the Wits Humanitarian Fund and other similar programs rely on trust and confidence. People only donate to programmes and organisations if they trust that they can achieve their aims. In consequence, humanitarian programs are vulnerable. If they are misrepresented or if their legitimacy is challenged it has repercussions, not only for the programs themselves, but for the people who rely on these programs. When people stop donating, those who need it most cannot be helped.
It’s an important point because in the article, the One Million, One Month campaign was misrepresented. The article was titled “One Million, One Month falls short” but the details raised in the article suggest precisely the opposite. The intention of the program was never to support all 2 788 students financially. To suggest so is to fundamentally underestimate the scale of the crisis in the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). I’d pose the question to your readers: How much do you think it would cost to fully fund 2 788 students at Wits? R1-million? R10-million? The answer in fact is R178-million, the shortfall in what NSFAS was supposed to pay out and what was available.
The R1-million target the SRC set for the campaign was a target they felt would be realistic to raise in one month, and I know from helping as a volunteer that raising the funds was extremely difficult. Although the SRC ended up far exceeding the target they set, the NSFAS crisis is of the magnitude that even that was, and remains, a drop in the ocean. The SRC repeatedly made the point, both to affected students and in press statements, that this campaign was not a solution to the NSFAS crisis but an emergency response by students to aid as many affected students as was possible. The One Million, One Month campaign did not fall short. Quite to the contrary, the campaign itself raised R1.8-million, almost double its goal of R1-million at the end of the month, and at last check the humanitarian fund had received R4.4-million in donations through the year, almost entirely due to the success of the One Million, One Month campaign and the exposure it created.
The media plays an important role in society and it is the responsibility of the media to hold institutions and programs accountable, but that is unfortunately not what has happened here. This was misrepresentation. It may not have been intentional, but it has a very real effect on those students at Wits who are currently beneficiaries of the work done by the One Million, One Month campaign and those who will benefit from the Wits humanitarian fund in the future. I implore the Wits Vuvuzela, both now and in the future, to take extra care in the research and portrayal of issues and initiatives like this. The fact is the media has power. How that power is used is up to every journalist and editor at this paper. Wield it wisely.
Dylan Barry, 2nd year BSc
One Million, One Month campaign subcommittee member
by Litaletu Zidepa | Jul 31, 2015 | News
The Wits financial aid and scholarships office held a prize giving to reward students who have signed their lease forms in time. A lucky draw with student names was used to select the winners of the voucher.
The South Point and NSFAS team gathered quickly inside Senate House after the students name to pose for a picture. From the Left: Luthando Falakahla (From South Point), Khodani Ramukumba (winner), Zahraa Badrodin (winner), Nombini Nteyi (NSFAS) and Lehlohonolo Bhulane (winner). Photo: Anelisa Tuswa
Financial Aid Office Manager, Ennie Kubeka said that students don’t sign their lease forms on time and this creates a problem with them getting their allowance, registration fees and accommodation payment.
According to Kubeka, 3282 students were offered loans, but only 3017 came to sign.
“The 266 students that didn’t sign on time are worth R12 million,” she said.
One of the problems she raised is that students get funding somewhere else and this leads to them not signing their forms. “Now the problem with that is that we’ve got students that do qualify for the loans but we couldn’t give them anything because the funds were depleted.”
This Prize giving was to thank the 92 percent who have signed their lease forms on time and to motivate other students to do the same.
The winners were given South Point sponsored Pick n Pay vouchers valued at R1 000.
South Point Bursary Administrator, Luthando Falakahla told Wits Vuvuzela that “As South Point we thought we should contribute and make sure that the students are signing leases on time just to smooth up the progress and make sure that they get what they are actually looking for in funding.”
When asked about why they were giving students food vouchers, Falakahla said “we as South Point need to guide the students. If we give them food vouchers they will actually get food and you cannot study very well if you are hungry. So getting that voucher will actually help.”
The winners include first-year Biological Sciences student Lehlohonolo Bhulane, Accounting Sciences student, Khodani Ramukumba and first-year BA Law student, Zahraa Badrodin.
The winners expressed their excitement and joy on winning the vouchers. BA Law student, Zahraa Badrodin said “I feel very lucky because I don’t really win anything, so it’s my first time winning, so it’s quite cool. I was told to buy healthy things so I think I’m going to do that.”
by Roxanne Joseph | Mar 5, 2015 | Featured 1
Rhodes University vice-chancellor Sizwe Mabizela had his inauguration last Friday., and dedicated his speech to the Biko and Mxenge families. Photo: Provided
Rhodes University’s newly inaugurated vice-chancellor, Dr Sizwe Mabizela, has vowed that no academically talented – but financially needy – young person will be turned away from Rhodes University in Grahamstown.
“It is a bit aspirational,” he told Wits Vuvuzela. “But we have to make a point that we will raise funds. I will make it my personal mission.”
When Mabizela became deputy vice-chancellor in 2008, he made a “salary sacrifice” and contributed part of his salary towards a bursary fund that assists financially needy students who are academically talented, mostly from poor and rural families.
As vice-chancellor, he said that he will increase this contribution, to about R300 000 in total. He will also continue to encourage community members and university staff to contribute.
“In fact, I encourage every young person in this country to make a contribution,” he said.
Mabizela is the first black African vice-chancellor at Rhodes University in over 100 years, but does not want people to “get hung up on this”.
“That I happen to be black and African is simply an accident of history from which we have just emerged. I don’t want this to be elevated above any and everything else, because I would be deeply troubled if I was appointed simply because of that.”
He said that when he accepted, he made it very clear that he was not motivated by personal glory or material and financial gain, but rather by a commitment to serve the university and wider South Africa.
Rhodes had to turn away approximately 130 students at the start of the year, because they were denied National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funds and were unable to register. Mabizela described the experience of having to deny qualifying students an education as “painful”.
Under Sizwe’s leadership as a part of senior management for over six years, Rhodes has matched NSFAS’ contribution of R32-million by spending approximately R34-million on assisting “desperately poor” but academically strong students.
One of Sizwe’s aims is to make the university more socially aware and one that “tackles local problems and challenges facing Grahamstown and the Eastern Cape”.
The university plans to make it a centre of academic excellence, improving primary school education, all the way to tertiary education.
“We have to brighten this corner where we find ourselves.”
![The Howard College building on the Howard College campus at the UKZN. Photo: Ryan Holder Ryanglobal (Legal Beagles [1]) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://witsvuvuzela.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Howard_college.jpg)
