News24.com | NSFAS intervenes after students protest over its R45 000 housing bursary cap

University of the Western Cape students protest outside the Bremner building against fee blocks and a lack of student accommodation.

• The National Student Financial Aid Scheme will intervene where students have been denied housing over the cap.
• NSFAS introduced the R45 000 cap to mitigate instances of price fixing of student accommodation.
• It will prioritise six public universities in its engagements. 

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will step in to assist in the ongoing student “accommodation crisis”.

In a meeting with the South African Union of Students (SAUS) on Monday, NSFAS committed to intervening at universities.

The R45 000 cap on funding for accommodation is one of the main reasons for the ongoing student protests.

The cap was introduced this year after it was discovered that there had been price fixing and in some instances collusion from university staff for exorbitant fees at tertiary accommodation.

Students on the NSFAS grant are concerned that they will have to pay the excess, and in some cases the price cap has prevented them from accessing accommodation.

On Thursday, NSFAS said SAUS agreed it would assist the scheme in collating details of students who do not have accommodation and are allegedly sleeping in public places, and NSFAS is engaging universities to receive credible information to fast-track the process.

READ | 'Unacceptable': Wits slams students for marching to VC's house, allegedly threatening to burn it

“SAUS leadership has made an undertaking to contact all SRCs [student representative councils] in affected universities to supply the information. In the meantime, NSFAS is in the process of identifying alternative accommodations to be provided within the stipulated rate of R45 000 per annum," the scheme said. 

The following universities will be prioritised:

• University of Pretoria;
• University of the Witwatersrand;
• Stellenbosch University;
• University of KwaZulu-Natal;
• Rhodes University; and
• Sol Plaatje University

NSFAS spokesperson Slumezi Skosana said, "Where necessary, NSFAS will have to take extraordinary measures to ensure that NSFAS-funded students are not left stranded due to skyrocketing accommodation costs."

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