Africa-Press – South-Africa. Most University of Witwatersrand students received their allowances at the weekend after the National Students’ Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) failed to pay the stipend to more than 8 000 students last week.
NSFAS implemented the new payment system in July.
Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel said the university had not received official confirmation from NSFAS.
But, based on anecdotal feedback from students, most of the allowances were paid either late on Friday or over the weekend.
Patel added the new service provider had sent eight consultants to the campus to assist the remaining eligible students in registering for the allowances.
This after student representatives met with the vice-chancellor, principal, and dean of student affairs on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Last week, the university said it was engaging with NSFAS to expedite the payments and would address the students’ pressing needs.
These included contacting private accommodation service providers to notify them of the issue.
The university also made provisions for staff and students to donate toiletries and other items to students who still did not receive their allowances.
In a notice on Friday, it said it had several engagements with NSFAS over challenges faced by students.
One of the engagements was to ask that Wits be exempted from the direct payment and accreditation system, “given that the university has its own effective processes and systems in place”.
The university said it was yet to hear back from NSFAS on this matter.
It added the vice-chancellor had written to the scheme to enquire about the status of the exemption process and to record the university’s concerns regarding the NSFAS direct payment and accreditation system.
Wits said the letter had yet to receive a response.
It added it had also flagged the implications of the accommodation cap with NSFAS.
Students protested at the beginning of the year over the accommodation cap.
There were meetings between the Wits finance team, student representatives and NSFAS officials to flag these concerns.
The university said it had a meeting scheduled for this week with Universities South Africa (USAf) about the number of students affected by the new process.
This in preparation for a meeting arranged by USAf with Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande and members of the NSFAS executive.
Comment from NSFAS will be added once received.
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