NSFAS accommodation woes as ‘evicted’ students find refuge in college hall

National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS) administrator Freeman Nomvalo will personally assess incidents of King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College students allegedly being evicted by landlords over unpaid rent.

This is after pictures of several students sleeping in a hall on blankets were shared on social media.

NSFAS has appealed to landlords not to evict students as it would ensure that all outstanding debts were paid.

The entity’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, said Nomvalo had now instituted an investigation into the plight of the KSD College students in the Eastern Cape.

“The administrator is taking these reports seriously and has commissioned the verification of the list of affected students submitted to NSFAS.

“The administrator, together with the NSFAS team, will visit the college in the coming week to engage with the management, affected students, landlords and the student representative council.

“NSFAS reiterated the call to the landlords who still have outstanding payments not to evict students.

“NSFAS has already commenced with clearing of all legitimate outstanding payments. Landlords who did not submit their claims for outstanding payments are still encouraged to,” said Mnisi.

He said the outcome of the investigation and the payment of the affected landlords would be communicated to the public.

An attempt to reach the KSD College was unsuccessful on Monday. It emerged earlier this year that the entity owed private student housing operators millions in outstanding rent, with the issues predominantly prevalent in TVET institutions.

Nomvalo met with some landlords last weekend and acknowledged there were concerns regarding outstanding and late payments. He announced that the entity was able to do bulk payment of accommodation allowances which were processed by the end of May and the beginning of this month.

“The next scheduled payment will be no later than June 18, to clear all legitimate claims. These interventions are intended to provide much-needed relief to private student accommodation landlords,” he said.

The SA TVET Student Association said it was waiting for their provincial teams to send more details on the Eastern Cape matter and appealed to Nomvalu to address the situation urgently.

“It is heartbreaking to see students who went to further their studies in hopes of improving their lives end up sleeping on the floor.

“Things should not get to that extent and we welcome that a team from NSFAS, and the administrator will physically go and attend to what is happening there.”

Cape Times