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NSFAS applications officially open until end of January
NSFAS applications for the 2024 academic year have officially opened.
Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande, announced that the application period will end on the 31st of January.
Nzimande used his media briefing in Pretoria to remind students that they do not have to wait for matric results to apply for funding.
The Minister has also announced a number of measures that will form part of improving the services for students.
Nzimande says the entity has been working tirelessly to ensure that it improves on its processes for applications and ensures quick turnaround times on funding decisions.
These include roping in third parties such as SASSA, SARS and the Department of Home Affairs to assist with verifying information students would have declared in their applications.
” I, therefore, urge students to provide accurate information particularly parental information when applying so that when validations occur with Home Affairs students can be funded timeously.
“NSFAS will reject or request additional supporting documentation where validations with 3rd parties have failed.”
[Here are some of the key announcements made by Minister Nzimande]:
-There will be no supporting documents required during this application period.
– The only time supporting documents will be required is when prompted by NSFAS in cases where they cannot verify the parental relationship.
– In the case where a student is submitting an appeal, documents required will be based on the NSFAS declaration form available on the NSFAS website.
-Disabled students will be required to submit the disability annexure form, because they are assessed at the R600K threshold.
– All the first-time applicants will be able to appeal as soon as they are rejected.
– Returning students and continuing students will only be able to appeal from the end of November.
– Applying does not mean you have been confirmed for funding, you still need to be registered first, in a public university or TVET College.
As part of the improvements to the system, the financial aid scheme has also introduced WhatsApp and USSD functionality, to allow students to track their applications.
“I am also pleased to announce that NSFAS has a mobile app that can be downloaded on IOS, Android and Huawei to allow students to apply seamlessly.”
GBV concern
The Minister of Higher Education has also raised concern over the scourge of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) at institutions of higher learning.
This follows the brutal stabbing of a CPUT student by her husband at a private student residence in Belha, Cape Town.
The 30-year-old suspect, Ntembeko Myalo, has been charged with attempted murder and has requested that he be taken in for mental observation.
Minister Nzimande has urged students to be part of the Transforming MENtalities Initiative, which was launched in August.
The programme is aimed at transforming the way men and boys build relations with women and girls.
It also seeks to free them from anachronistic and dominant positionalities.
According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) 2013 report, the lifetime risk of experiencing GBV is 45.6% for South African women; well above the global average of 35%.
“We cannot continue like this in our society where as many as 38% of murders are committed against women, often by their intimate partners.”
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