The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education has raised concern over the ongoing accommodation crisis at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and the Nelson Mandela University (NMU).
This comes as hundreds of students have been left stranded and forced to sleep wherever they find shelter.
In a statement on Tuesday, Higher Education Committee Chairperson, Tebogo Letsie, said the scenes at CPUT and NMU were deeply troubling, particularly following the committee’s recent oversight visits to institutions in the North West and Gauteng provinces to assess the state of readiness for the 2025 academic year.
“While institutions assured the committee of their preparedness, the current crisis underscores the urgent need for greater scrutiny of these assurances. The systemic failure to address recurring student accommodation shortages reflects a broader institutional and governmental neglect of student welfare,” Letsie said.
The chairperson has also condemned the involvement of private security forces at CPUT, which resulted in violent clashes and injuries to students.
“The use of excessive force is unacceptable. Security personnel must prioritise de-escalation and protection, not repression. Students advocating for their right to education deserve empathy, not violence,” Letsie said.
National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) Administrator, Freeman Nomvalo, said the scheme has reached out to accommodation providers who have not received payment and has established payment arrangements with them.
Last week, the NSFAS called on accommodation providers, or landlords, not to demand a deposit or top-up payment from NSFAS-funded students.
This after some landlords asked NSFAS-funded students to pay a deposit or top-up payment in order to get access to the approved private accommodation.
According to the Standardised Fixed-Term Lease Agreement, the rent will be paid monthly to the accommodation provider (lessor) by NSFAS, on behalf of the lessee (NSFAS funded student), in accordance with the NSFAS terms and conditions for private accommodation providers’ participation on the student accommodation portal.
The agreement states that the lessor may not require or permit the lessee to pay a deposit, top-up payments, or any other forms of payment to the lessor, or any other person in connection with this agreement, including payment of rent, while awaiting payment from NSFAS.
The lessor shall have no recourse against the lessee for any default in the payment of rent by NSFAS.
The NSFAS terms and conditions for private accommodation providers’ participation on the student accommodation portal also states that: “Where the NSFAS-funded student is defunded due to an incorrect decision by NSFAS, the student will not be liable for payment of any arrear rent to the accommodation provider, up until the date of being defunded.”
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