The EFF has rejected and condemned the third-party service providers introduced by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to all students affected by its mismanagement and corruption.
This comes after NSFAS introduced a new direct payment service provider as an alternative for disbursing funds for funded students.
According to the scheme, all its beneficiaries will receive their allowances directly to their accounts through the new NSFAS bank account.
The move was praised by the NSFAS management and the Higher Education Ministry who said it would be convenient for students to receive their allowances.
However, to date, the EFF said the few students who received their allowances received less than what they deserved. They have been met with high transaction fees.
The EFF said NSFAS's inability to streamline its processes and ensure timely assistance has caused immense frustration and despair among those who rely on its support.
“Year in, year out, these failures have had far-reaching consequences, affecting the lives and aspirations of countless students,” it said.
Some of the most recent issues include not funding students who initially had fully funded status. This has resulted in thousands of students forfeiting or not receiving their NSFAS allowances and being removed from their residences.
The red berets blamed the ANC for being absent and lacking strong political will to deal with education matters across the country.
The party mentioned that they had created a student command entity to directly address such issues head-on.
“In our 10 years of unbroken struggle, the EFF has consistently called for free, quality, and decolonised education,” it added.
The EFF called for NSFAS to place all its offices in the country to root out corruption within the universities, starting from the offices of vice-chancellors to middle management.
Despite rejecting the idea, the EFF advocated for a State Bank to address such financial matters. “We advocate for a State Bank so that we are not empowering the white-owned banking sector of South Africa,” the party said.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
IOL Politics