SOUTH AFRICA — A major milestone in NSFAS Funza Lushaka bursary payments has been reached, with Deputy Minister Yusuf Cassim confirming the disbursement of over R222 million to six higher education institutions. The funds, totaling exactly R222,688,894, are designated to support 2,927 student teachers across the country, marking a critical step in resolving ongoing allowance delays.
The confirmation emerged from a Thursday engagement in Cape Town, where the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training met with senior National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) executives and the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme team. A statement released by the Ministry on Saturday detailed that the recipient institutions include the Central University of Technology, North-West University, University of Fort Hare, University of Limpopo, University of Pretoria, and the University of South Africa. These universities now bear the direct responsibility of processing and distributing the respective living allowances to the beneficiaries.
Addressing the urgency of the situation, Deputy Minister Cassim directed NSFAS to formally contact these institutions to secure definitive timelines for the disbursement of funds to students.
“These payments must now reach students without delay so they can focus on their studies and not have to worry about outstanding allowances that have been pending for months,” Cassim stated. He further expressed appreciation for the collaborative efforts of both the NSFAS and Funza Lushaka teams in accelerating the procedure.
Funded by the Department of Basic Education, the Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme is a multi-year financial initiative designed to support students enrolled in teaching qualifications. NSFAS acts as the official disbursement agency, channeling these funds to participating universities. For the current academic year, the programme has allocated R1.3 billion across 23 universities, comprehensively covering tuition fees, accommodation, meals, learning materials, and a monthly living allowance.
The recent engagement also shed light on administrative hurdles, with NSFAS revealing that a substantial volume of institutional claims remains outstanding. The standard verification protocol requires approximately four weeks to validate claims before funds are released. In response to numerous beneficiary inquiries regarding delayed payouts, the Ministry emphasized that universities must submit their documentation promptly to avoid compounding the wait times for students.
Looking at the immediate financial pipeline, claims amounting to R295,988,585, covering 3,095 students, were uploaded in August and are slated for standard processing and payment in September. Additionally, the programme currently holds more than half a billion rand in unclaimed funds. To access this capital, institutions are mandated to submit their pending claims no later than 13 September to ensure payouts are executed in October.
To safeguard student support, the Deputy Minister has instructed NSFAS to write to all institutions holding outstanding claims. This communication must secure assurances that Funza Lushaka recipients will receive their allowances without interruption and confirm that the institutions will strictly adhere to the upcoming submission deadline.
To systematically resolve these structural inefficiencies, NSFAS has proposed a collaborative stakeholder workshop scheduled for November 2026, prior to the commencement of the next academic year. The session will prioritize the automation of manual workflows, the establishment of direct and effective communication channels with students, and the realignment of payment timelines to prevent future administrative bottlenecks.
