NWU SRC raise concerns regarding NSFAS direct payment system
The North-West University (NWU) confirmed that its management and representatives from its Student Representative Council (SRC) and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme met on Monday, 17 July.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is introducing a direct payment system for all universities nationwide, and this decision has not gone down well with the Student Representative Council of North-West University.
NSFAS revealed that an NSFAS Mastercard direct payment system would be operational from June this year to distribute allowances to students.
The North-West University (NWU) confirmed that its management and representatives from its Student Representative Council (SRC) and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme met on Monday, 17 July.
“At the meeting, NSFAS indicated that they are proceeding with implementing payment of allowances directly to recipients of NSFAS, despite objections from the SRC. To this end, NSFAS students are encouraged to urgently apply for their NSFAS Mastercard,” stated Christopher Motabogi, manager of the corporate communication, corporate relations and marketing department at NWU.
NWU SRC president, Yikumba Andreas, released a statement on Tuesday, 18 July, reiterating that the SRC was not in favour of the NSFAS direct payment systems for various reasons.
“The SRC met with NSFAS and the Financial Aid Officer (FAO) of the NWU (on Monday, 17 July) to address issues related to direct payment, wrongful defunding of students, appeals, and the NSFAS portal,” stated Andreas.
“The concerns range from exorbitant bank charges, Norraco’s (NSFAS’ service provider) failure to fully onboard students from other institutions, Norraco’s inability to pay allowances to all students at other institutions, and its unavailability to respond on both WhatsApp and phone calls, similarly to the experiences of other SRCs at different institutions, among other concerns.”
NSFAS released a press statement on 10 July, clarifying the reason for the direct payment switch.
“The main objective for NSFAS to take over direct payment is to ensure its accountability on student allowances and establish a better-coordinated system of transferring funds to students. This was after a series of erroneous and delayed student payments and incidents of fraudulent transactions,” NSFAS said.
NWU also reiterated that it would communicate with all NSFAS students once Norraco (NSFAS service provider at NWU) representatives were available on all NWU campuses to assist affected beneficiaries.
“NWU was one of only two institutions of higher learning that were yet to implement NSFAS taking over of the payment of allowances. However, the institution notes that the process will now be implemented in line with NSFAS directives,” added Motabogi.
Nearly 27,000 NSFAS-funded students at NWU are affected by NSFAS taking over the payment of allowances.
Andreas stated that concerns were raised regarding defunded students and NSFAS handling the appeals process, particularly as appeals submitted as early as March are still being processed.
The SRC also requested a definitive deadline for the completion of all appeals.
“As students are accustomed to receiving their allowances by the 25th of every month through the NWU, which pays students in advance, the system of making all payments at the end of each month inconveniences students. For these reasons, the SRC does not support the direct payment system in totality. The SRC wants our constituents to be aware of its stance so Norraco and NSFAS do not deceive you by falsely claiming that the SRC has agreed,” added Andreas.
Andreas also said the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, had taken the final decision, and it was clear from their engagement with the chair of the NSFAS board that the SRC had no option but to participate in this process.
“University management is committed to doing everything possible from our side to ensure a smooth handover, although the result is not in NWU’s hands,” he stated, adding that NSFAS would not bully the SRC into accepting “something that negatively impacts our day-to-day operations.”
Andreas said there was a possibility that SRCs nationwide could take their objections to the “streets”.
“We are committed to fighting to the end to ensure that we fully represent our students. The SRC will keep students updated on the progress of these matters and will ensure that all NSFAS-related matters receive the full attention they deserve,” added Andreas.
Communication regarding the NSFAS Mastercard has already been shared with NWU’s NSFAS beneficiaries at the following website: https://www.nwu.ac.za/nsfas-2023.
