PRETORIA, Gauteng — The escalating NSFAS funding crisis has reached a critical tipping point, prompting the South African Union of Students (SAUS) to formally demand that the embattled financial aid scheme be placed under the direct supervision of the National Treasury. SAUS President Siyabonga Nkambako revealed that the scheme’s massive R29 billion shortfall—encompassing both unpaid tuition and student accommodation fees—is actively destabilizing public universities and leaving thousands of learners vulnerable to sudden defunding and eviction.
Current reports indicate that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) owes public higher education institutions approximately 10.5 billion rand in outstanding tuition fees. When unpaid student accommodation costs are factored in, the total debt owed to institutions of higher learning surges to roughly 29 billion rand. This severe financial strain is threatening daily campus operations and academic programs, a situation unfolding just as the Public Protector is expected to release a highly anticipated report into allegations of maladministration at the agency.
Nkambako characterized the financial collapse as a symptom of deep-rooted, systematic failures within NSFAS, exacerbated by weak oversight from the Department of Higher Education and Training. He pointed to a decade of revolving-door leadership as a primary catalyst for the dysfunction.
“Within a period of 10 years, we have had quite a number of CEOs, administrators, and acting CEOs,” Nkambako explained. He noted that each new appointee arrives with different plans that ultimately deepen the crisis rather than resolve it. The current administrator’s appointment is already facing intense scrutiny and is subject to an ongoing judicial review, further eroding the institution’s credibility.
The human toll of this administrative chaos is severe. Nkambako highlighted that approximately 12,000 students were recently placed on the verge of being defunded pending unresolved “gap investigations.” As a result, some students have been unable to return for the second semester, while those remaining on campus are going without meal allowances and facing eviction by private landlords who are not receiving their payments from NSFAS. Compounding the frustration, Nkambako noted that while NSFAS advisers have successfully claimed their payments, the students relying on the scheme are being left behind, with new leadership sometimes treating the agency like a “cash cow” rather than a student support mechanism.
To permanently resolve the dysfunction, the South African Union of Students is advocating for a fundamental structural shift. Nkambako proposed that the National Treasury assume direct supervision of NSFAS. This move would allow the Treasury to accurately determine the exact funding required for students nationwide and enforce strict, non-negotiable policies.
Crucially, the union is demanding robust consequence management. Nkambako emphasized that officials who make severe mistakes or engage in wrongdoing are currently just shuffled to different government departments. Instead, he argued, they must be dismissed, punished, or blacklisted from future employment within any government institution. He also stressed the urgent need for mechanisms to hold ministers and departmental officials accountable for their role in the crisis.
The union directed specific criticism at the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, for placing NSFAS under administration without prior consultation with student stakeholders. Nkambako pointed out that earlier in the year, the scheme experienced a period of absolute stability. During that time, appeals were processed on time, funding was reliably distributed, and gap investigations were minimal. The decision to impose an administrator without engaging student unions, who also represent college learners, disrupted this progress and introduced counterproductive instability.
In response to the ongoing defunding threats, SAUS is escalating its strategy beyond public advocacy. The union is actively engaging legal counsel to take NSFAS to court. Nkambako asserted that a legally binding agreement exists between the scheme and the students, and that administrative law strictly prohibits defunding a student without providing a reasonable, documented justification.
The legal stakes are high: students are rapidly accumulating institutional debt due to these funding interruptions. If unresolved, universities will demand payment of these arrears, effectively blocking affected students from registering in the upcoming academic year.
As the sector braces for the Public Protector’s findings, the South African Union of Students maintains that reversing the counterproductive decisions of the past three months requires immediate intervention. Placing NSFAS under the National Treasury, enforcing strict consequence management, and honoring stakeholder consultation remain the union’s definitive roadmap to saving the future of higher education funding in South Africa.
