The student union has raised concerns over growing instability at NSFAS, saying delays in funding, frozen allowances and administrative issues are placing poor and working-class students under severe pressure..
The South African Union of Students (SAUS) has raised concern over what it describes as instability at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), saying more than 12 000 students have had their allowances frozen under “gap investigations” despite being eligible for funding, leaving thousands without meal or accommodation support during the examination period.
SAUS said the situation had resulted in students facing hunger, psychological distress, and possible eviction after NSFAS allegedly failed to pay accommodation providers and meal allowances, warning that students were being forced to write exams under “inhumane and unstable conditions”.
The union said it was “completely unacceptable” that students were expected to prepare for examinations without financial certainty, adding that the crisis had emerged amid ongoing administrative uncertainty within NSFAS.
It further warned that placing NSFAS under administration had contributed to instability within the scheme, saying urgent student matters had stalled and accountability structures remained unclear.
