The National Student Financial Aid Scheme has restored funding for 182 Tshwane University of Technology students after incorrect qualification codes affected their eligibility under the N+ rule.
The Department of Higher Education and Training said TUT corrected the codes after Deputy Minister Buti Manamela’s office followed up on more than 300 cases submitted through its student helpdesk. TUT and NSFAS then worked through the records and identified the 182 affected students.
TUT has confirmed that the students’ funding has been restored and that their September allowances have been paid, the department said.
Accommodation cases still under review
The review also found that 1,212 students had been placed in accredited accommodation after the NSFAS portal closed, but their accommodation costs had not been paid. A further 115 students whose funding was approved after the portal closed faced the same problem.
The deputy minister has written to the NSFAS board asking for those cases to be investigated and resolved without delay.
NSFAS separately reported that funding had been reinstated for 2,476 TVET college students and 3,234 university students nationally after GAP investigations and registration checks. Payments were processed for cases that were successfully concluded.
Dual registrations
The scheme received 2,982 records showing the same student registered at more than one institution. It confirmed 1,303 of those registrations and said the students were being paid. TUT identified another 16 dual-registration cases that had been resolved but where funding had not yet been restored.
The department said affected students whose GAP investigations had been concluded but who had not received their allowances could contact its helpdesk to have their cases escalated.
