South African universities face chronic and persistent problems stemming from NSFAS’s ineptitude, incompetence, cronyism, and tender capitalism, as well as malfeasance, inadequate funding, and a lack of proper support for off-campus students’ accommodation, accommodation shortages, and deferred maintenance, particularly at historically Black universities (HBUs). The ANC-led government lacks the will to help or resolve problems at universities, and this situation is worsening every year. These problems lead to widespread student disruptions and protest marches and strain universities’ operations. The ANC-led government increased access to higher education, but access without success is useless. NSFAS’s delayed payment and mid-year defunding of students are problems that require urgent attention; they also undermine the academic progress of poor students.
NSFAS FUNDING PROBLEMS
The cancellation of NSFAS funding for students during mid-year creates a chaotic and stressful situation for them, negatively impacting their academic success and leaving them stranded and in debt. Landlords chase the students because of defunding, and students are left homeless, and it becomes a burden to universities. This chaos repeats year after year, chronicling crippling activities that negatively impact students’ academic success.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND HBUs
HBUs are characterised by deferred maintenance, which is continually postponed due to budget shortfalls. Some HBUs are no longer fit for purpose due to planning and a lack of funds to maintain and upgrade the infrastructure.
ACCOMMODATION CHALLENGES
Many thousands of students are left without a roof or a bed to stay because of NSFAS nonpayment or delinquent payment. It creates a student housing crisis, which is just manufactured by NSFAS. These are symptoms of a lack of planning, skills, and capacity to manage an elephant like NSFAS.
GOVERNANCE FAILURES
NSAFS is ridiculed by critics, who describe it as a “circus gone horribly wrong,” and is an unsustainable elephant that requires urgent reforms or the return of NSFAS to university control. NSFAS depicts a deeper and systematic failure.
By
Dr Sefoko Ramoshaba
www.sjli.co.za
0647092097
3 Comments
As a student leader navigating the 2026 academic cycle, I find Dr’s assessment not only accurate but tragically prophetic. We are currently witnessing a ‘perpetual crisis’ across our 26 universities and dozens of TVET colleges. While the government boasts of high application approvals—over 600,000 this year alone—the reality for a student on the ground is far from a success story.
The article correctly identifies the ‘elephant in the room’: NSFAS. In 2026, we are still fighting the same ghosts mid-year defunding and the ‘missing middle’ being pushed into unserviceable debt. For a student at a Historically Black University (HBU), ‘deferred maintenance’ isn’t just a budget line item; it’s a collapsing ceiling in a lecture hall or a laboratory without working equipment.
We are seeing a dangerous trend where:
-TVET Neglect: Despite the push for vocational training, our TVET peers face even harsher accommodation shortages and delayed ‘upfront payments’ that leave them at the mercy of predatory private landlords.
-The Accommodation Industrial Complex: The ‘manufactured housing crisis’ has turned students into nomads. When NSFAS fails to pay, the university becomes a landlord-by-proxy, and the student becomes a trespasser in their own place of learning.
• The Decoupling of Funding and Academic Calendars: We cannot have a system where funding decisions are made in April for a year that began in February.
Access is a hollow victory if it leads to a ‘Death of Dignity.’ As student leaders, we are tired of ‘War Rooms’ and ‘Task Teams’ that yield no tangible change. We demand the return of administrative autonomy to institutions where local management understands local needs. The current ‘circus’ must end, or the 2026 academic year will be defined not by graduations, but by the fire of further protests.
Student rights are not a tender to be traded.
Good day
Thanks for the review and comprehensive engagement.
Regards
Sefoko Ramoshaba
Facts some are currently even facing challenges of not having nsfas