The Administrator of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) Freeman Nomvalo says the institution isn’t out of the woods yet, eight months after being at the helm of the scheme. Nomvalo was delivering an opening address at the Student Accommodation Workshop held in Durban, KwaZulu Natal.He gave a brief background about the institution’s performance following his appointment to stabilize it. “NSFAS has faced challenges, including unpaid loans from graduates, reduced funding for current students, and an ongoing corruption crisis.
“These issues hamper NSFAS’s ability to provide essential financial support, underscoring the need for immediate reforms and strategic interventions,” said Nomvalo.He acknowledged challenges facing the student accommodation providers including inconsistent payment of their services, which he equated to the system failures within the institution. “When systems don’t work, when accommodation providers are not paid on time, when payments are erratic, one month you are paid the next month you are not paid.On the surface is the systems that doesn’t work.But unfortunately, sometimes that system that doesn’t work incentivise bad behaviour,” bemoaned Nomvalo. The administrator called on student accommodation providers not to pay bribe to anyone who promise to facilitate their payments.He urged them to be patient, as the scheme is doing everything in in power to ensure that all legitimate claims are settled.
“I am hoping that our problems with accommodation providers not been paid on time, paid erratically, its not because somebody is manufacturing an environment in which they going to be paid bribes.
If anybody in the room here or virtually pays anybody to facilitate a favour even if they say that payment is coming to me don’t agree with them.
Tell them I must come claim it myself because they’ll be lying,” explained Nomvalo. The two-day workshop is expected to provide solutions to challenges of certification, and payments faced by the student accommodation providers throughout the country. It is also expected to formulate strategies for the 2025 academic year.
