The first student allowance payments were apparently processed successfully and without any delays by the higher education institutions temporarily assigned to oversee these payments.
Acting chair of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), Lourens van Staden, promised last week Monday that allowances will be fully paid by Friday, latest.
Unrest related to allowances, and accommodation related issues had already begun to disturb some tertiary institutions, including Central University of Technology in the Free State and Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley.
Van Staden provided an update on Saturday stating that only 25 of the 26 institutions had made their February allowance payments within the deadlines they had agreed upon.
“All the universities will also be handling the payment of the March allowance. Institutions are reminded to allow direct payment service providers to conduct the process of onboarding students whilst they continue with payments,” he stated.
To prevent problems and delays, the NSFAS board resorted to requesting that the universities oversee the allowance payments for February and March.
It is anticipated that in April of 2024, direct payments of allowances to students will commence. The entity made this decision in order to deal with the contract termination of disputed fintech companies such as, Tenet Technology, eZaga Holdings, Noracco Corporation, and Coinvest Africa, while also looking for a long-term solution.
The appointment of the four service providers was deemed irregular, according to an investigation report provided by Werksmans Attorneys last year, which also suggested that the contracts be terminated. Van Staden stated that in order to address some of the problems with student accommodations, the organisation will carry out sting operations at universities to ensure that no students were taken advantage of.
The accusations stem from allegations of corruption and bribery involving student leaders, accommodation providers, officials in charge of accommodation, and accrediting agents in certain universities.
“NSFAS wishes to reiterate that this will not be tolerated and that the scheme will work with law enforcement agencies to investigate all these reported cases of corruption.”
Facebook Comments