The Department of Higher Education and the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) have once again pleaded with student accommodation landlords not to evict or lock out students for failing to settle their monthly rentals.
This comes after the NSFAS has been battling to pay student allowances on time due to a change in payment methods following the cancellation of some contracts.
During a media briefing last month, NSFAS administrator Freeman Nomvalo confirmed that he had filed papers in court to cancel the direct payment contracts awarded to four companies to pay allowances into students’ bank accounts.
Included in this were entities such Ezaga Holdings, Coinvest Africa, Narraco Corporation and Tenet Technologies, who were appointed to carry out payments to NSFAS beneficiaries amid technical glitches and costly bank charges
According to department spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi, Nomvalo has had various discussions with landlords and other stakeholders since his appointment as administrator. Mnisi added that NSFAS was in the process of resolving the issue, adding that all valid claims would be processed and settled in the next 10 days.
“We are in the process of resolving these issues. In response to these concerns, we also pleased to announce that a bulk payment of accommodation allowances was processed by the end of May 2024 and beginning of June 2024. The NSFAS administrator pleads with landlords who still have outstanding payments not to evict students as NSFAS is committed to ensuring that all legitimate claims are resolved not later than 18 June 2024,” said Mnisi.
He further stated that most of the payment of accommodation allowances was done at the beginning of June to ensure relief to landlords.
“These interventions are intended to provide much-needed relief to private accommodation student landlords. Landlords who did not submit their claims for outstanding payments are still encouraged to refer their enquiries. The NSFAS administrator reiterates its calls to all T-vet college students to submit their bank accounts on the NSFAS portal to avoid delays in the payments of their allowances,” Mnisi added.
Early last month, Nomvalo revealed that he had assigned dedicated staff to urgently address concerns around the outstanding payments for private student accommodation.
“We anticipate that these should be resolved during the course of the month of May 2024. To ensure that the issues do not further disrupt teaching and learning, we urge affected landlords to co-operate with the established NSFAS process to address all concerns,” he said.
The Star