2021 PROGRAMME

FUNDING STATUS REPORT

 NSFAS 2021 - PROGRAMME STATUS REPORT

2 National Student Financial Aid Scheme

 NSFAS 2021 - PROGRAMME STATUS REPORT

Table of
Contents
1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................6

2. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................6

3. 2021 FUNDING PROGRAM UPDATE......................................................................................8

3.1 2021 Applications and FTEN Appeals.................................................................................8

3.2 2021 Funding Allocations for Universities and TVETs......................................................8

3.3 2021 Funding, Registration Data and Disbursements - Universities ..............................8

3.4 2021 Funding, Registration and Disbursements - TVETs................................................12

4. OTHER ISSUES AFFECTING REGISTRATION DATA AND IMPACT ON ALLOWANCES ...17

4.1 Registration data issues....................................................................................................17

4.2 Registration data impact on allowances..........................................................................18

5. CONTINUING STUDENT APPEALS ....................................................................................18

5.1 Universities ........................................................................................................................18

5.2 TVET Colleges ...................................................................................................................20

6. CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................21

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1. INTRODUCTION
This report aims to provide stakeholders with an update on the 2021 National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)
Funding Programme to support approved students studying at public universities and TVET colleges.

The NSFAS Act no. 56 of 1999 as amended describes NSFAS’ mandate amongst other legislated responsibilities, as
“to provide bursaries to eligible students, and to develop criteria and conditions for the granting of bursaries to eligible
students in consultation with the Minister of Higher Education and Training; as well as administer bursaries for de-
serving students from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds”.

The process of assessing and confirming funding for students is informed by the eligibility criteria developed by NSFAS
and approved by the Minister as per the act. The approved funding criteria has two elements; i) income eligibility –
students may receive NSFAS funding if the household income is less than R122,000 (for students that entered higher
education before 2018) and from 2018 onwards students qualify for NSFAS if the household income is up to R350,000
per annum, disabled students qualify if the household income is up to R600,000 per annum.

Additionally; students must satisfy the Academic Eligibility criteria – in other words; students must succeed in their
academic studies and still be within their applicable N+ rule to continue receiving NSFAS bursaries. This is also an
important condition of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Bursary Rules. Students apply once
to NSFAS and if approved are funded for the whole qualification.

In administering the bursary, NSFAS works collaboratively with all TVET colleges and public universities. This process
is facilitated through data exchange in technology-based platforms. On the one hand, NSFAS has a responsibility to
assess students’ eligibility for bursary funding and confirm a funding decision to students and institutions, while in-
stitutions on the other hand have a responsibility to provide NSFAS with registration data for funded students. NSFAS
shall only confirm funding if a student is registered at a public university or TVET college for an approved qualifica-
tion. A student can only be funded, for one undergraduate qualification. The bursary had in the past covered certain
post-graduate studies under conditions of approved pathways. These pathways are under review, and currently, no
post-graduate funding is being provided under the current 2021 DHET Bursary Rules and Guidelines( universities).

A critical aspect of this funding process is its dependency on the accurate information that is provided by a prospective
bursary holder, to assist in the process efficiency including the accuracy of the funding decision. This remains an im-
portant area given the increasing demand for NSFAS funding.

Third-party data is used to confirm the information provided during the application process as only deserving students
from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds must benefit from the NSFAS bursary scheme. NSFAS has partnered with
other state entities such as the Department of Home Affairs, Department of Social Development, Department of Basic
Education, and South African Revenue Services (SARS) among others in ensuring that our funding decisions rely on
credible and verified information.

2. BACKGROUND

NSFAS is a statutory body, funded primarily by the South African National Department of Higher Education and Training
(DHET). NSFAS provides bursaries to eligible students who wish to study at any of the 26 public universities and 50
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVETs) colleges.

The organisation was established and is governed by the NSFAS Act (Act No. 56 of 1999) which mandates the NSFAS to:

1.1.1 Provide bursaries to eligible students.

1.1.2 Develop criteria and conditions for the granting of bursaries to eligible students in consultation with the
Minister of Higher Education and Training.
1.1.3 Raise funds.
1.1.4 Recover past loans.
1.1.5 Maintain and analyse a database and undertake research for the better utilisation of financial resources.
1.1.6 Advice the Minister on matters relating to financial aid for students and undertaking other functions assigned to it
by the NSFAS act 56 of 1999 as amended or by the Minister.

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 NSFAS 2021 - PROGRAMME STATUS REPORT

Since its inception of NSFAS in 1999, funds allocated to NSFAS have increased substantially from R441million in 1999
to almost R42bn billion in 2021/21 financial year. These funds are allocated for students at public universities and
TVET colleges in accordance with the funding conditions for each sector published in the DHET Bursary Rules and
Guidelines .

Through the Student Journey Process, NSFAS maps out the stages that students follow from bursary application to
funding, disbursements and payments to students directly or through institutons as well as institutional direct
payments:

Diagram 1: Illustration of the NSFAS Student Funding Process:

Qualifying Approved Funded

Students for funding Students

APPLY EVALUATE APPROVE CONFIRM DISBURSE PAY

FUNDING FUNDING ALLOWANCE ALLOWANCE

Students that need NSFAS All preparations and approvals Distribution of allowances to
funding must complete an by the Operations team to pay students. TVET students are
application and provide allowances does not make paid allowances directly via
supporting documents. sense, requires rewording the NSFAS Wallet.
according to the schedule and
Perform three-point validation rules. University students are paid
with the Department of Home allowances via institutions.
Affairs. Disbursements are scheduled
to run monthly.
Application accepts NSFAS
Bursary Conditions when they
Ad-hoc disbursements can
apply;
also be intiated.

Applications Channels include:

(1) Online via the myNSFAS
portal
(2) Manual Applications;
(3) Assisted Capture

NSFAS Student Journey points of emphasis:

1. Qualifying students – these students meet the financial and academic eligibility criteria.
2. Approved for funding – these students meet financial eligibility criteria and have registered for an approved funded
programme at an institution.
3. Funded student – This student may start to receive the due allowances.

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3. 2021 FUNDING PROGRAMME UPDATE

3.1 2021 Applications and FTEN Appeals

For the 2021 application cycle, NSFAS received and processed 839 130 applications through the online and manual
application channels. Of these applications; 722 252 were found to be funding eligible, 55 945 applications were
unsccessful as they did not meet the funding eligibility criteria, 5 335 could not be finalised owing to the supporting
documents to needed to complete the evaluation process and were therefore closed. The balance of applications are
mainly constituted of the trimester 2 applications for colleges. These applications were received during May and June
2021 to allow new students who enrol at TVET colleges to also apply for NSFAS funding.

NSFAS has significantly improved its applications evaluation process, this is evident in the number of students whose
funding decisions have been confirmed as compared to previous years, as well as students who were able to submit
an immediate appeal when their applications were unsuccessful . There were 19 820 appeals received and processed
for the First Time Entering Students (FTENs)/New NSFAS students. A total of 6 752 appeals were reviewed and ap-
proved as a result of changes in the household income that occurred after the application was submitted to NSFAS.
The balance of appeals remains unsuccessful while others do not have enough supporting documents to substantiate
the need for a review of the funding decision. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the imposed restriction levels, many
students were faced with data connectivity problems and were unable to submit documents as required. NSFAS then
had to extend the appeals window from May 30, 2021 to June 30, 2021 to test the newly developed Appeals System
Based Tools and to accommodate students and institutions who may still want to submit an appeal.

3.2 2021 Funding Allocations for Universities and TVETs

Below is a summary of students funded by NSFAS for the 2021 programme in TVET colleges and universities: The
number of students assessed as eligible for the 2021 programme cycle is 1 286 867, with the total allocated for the
university sector being 939 934 students and 346 933 students for the TVET Colleges. These include new and continu-
ing students. It is important to highlight that all eligible students may not eventually secure a space at an institution
of higher learning; therefore based on registration data received from institutions the following table summarises the
actual number of students with confirmed funding for the 2021 academic year:

Table 1 : 2021 Funded Students as at 23 June 2021

Institution Type New Applicants Continuing Students Totals

University 295,380 125,951 421,331
Capped Funding 33,438 14,466 47,904
Full Cost 261,942 111,485 373,427
TVET College 87,602 114,453 202,055
Total 382,982 240,404 623,386

NSFAS can confirm that it has to date disbursed allowances to a total of 623, 386 students as per the data submitted
by institutions. This number represents at least 48.5% of the total number of overall eligible students. This number is
likely to increase as a result of the TVETs T2 intake, Semester 2 (TVETs and universities ) as well as the T3. A further
increase is expected from the continuous reconciliation of prior years and students that are being resolved through
data remediation processes.

3.3 2021 Funding, Registration Data and Disbursements – Universities

According to the data received 47% (444,609) of funding eligible university students have confirmed registration at in-
stitutions and this is evidenced through registration data submitted and processed by NSFAS. It is, however, important
to highlight that among these 444,609 at least 2% will not have their NSFAS funding confirmed as they fall within the
category of registration data non-conformities/exceptions (ie these students are found to be non-compliant based on
the information received).

These exceptions come as a result of many reasons including; data exchange challenges; (for these students NSFAS
implement change requests for the system to reprocess affected students and address the challenges. These are
normally resolved and student keep their funding), however, students lose NSFAS funding where there are exceptions
emanating from the violation of funding rules (such as students registered on qualifications that are not funded, or
where students no longer qualify because their allowed N+ Rule has been exceeded). These issues are addressed with
institutions and oftentimes with the DHET.
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 NSFAS 2021 - PROGRAMME STATUS REPORT

Table 2: Institutions’ Registration Data Status

Institution Name Funding Registration Registration Registration

Eligible Recieved Exceptions Linked
CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF 27,489 17,085 120 16,945
TECHNOLOGY
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 19,813 9,069 794 8,275

DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 47,406 21,335 14 21,321

MANGOSUTHU UNIVERSITY OF 16,851 9,770 488 9,282

TECHNOLOGY
NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN 22,023 15,550 156 15,394
UNIVERSITY
NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY 36,794 23,648 484 23,164

RHODES UNIVERSITY 4,699 3,147 44 3,103

SEFAKO MAKGATHO HEALTH SCIENCE 4,781 2,974 20 2,954

UNIVERSITY
SOL PLAATJE UNIVERSITY 2,776 1,447 - 1,447

TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 62,730 - - -

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN 10,193 5,912 12 5,900

UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE 13,794 7,891 800 7,091

UNIVERSITY OF FREE STATE 39,552 23,331 1,537 21,794

UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG 57,132 14,860 385 14,495

UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL 41,220 22,853 10 22,843

UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPO 33,706 534 15 519

UNIVERSITY OF MPUMALANGA 6,195 3,950 196 3,754

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA 17,656 11,962 14 11,948

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA 330,105 157,185 1,206 155,979

UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH 5,206 4,026 200 3,826

UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE 19,117 11,447 327 11,120

UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND 14,947 9,927 103 9,824

UNIVERSITY OF VENDA 14,733 9,896 83 9,813

UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND 22,363 11,342 333 11,009

VAAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 19,262 13,239 83 13,158

WALTER SISULU UNIVERSITY 35,831 19,441 3,066 16,375

Grand Total 926,354 431,801 10,470 421,331

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Table 2: Above demonstrates the status of registration data submitted by higher education institutons as at June 23,
2021. In the context of the extended academic year 2020, and the start of 2021 academic year in March 2021. NSFAS
issued a circular to higher education institutions advising them of the submission timelines for 2021 registration data
which is a pre-requisite for funding confirmation and subsequent disbursement of tuition to institutions and allow-
ances to students.

According to the issued communication; institutons had up to the 25th April 2021 to submit student registration data
to NSFAS. Institutions that experienced challenges due to the ongoing extended academic year processing including
completing assessments and resulting for students engaged NSFAS to make arrangements according to the institu-
tion’s plans and risk management strategies. All affected institutions with lower registration numbers including Walter
Sisulu University, University of Venda, Tshwane University of Technology and University of Limpopo have initiated
conversations with NSFAS on their processes to finalise and speed up submission of registration data to match the
number of funded students in these institutions.

As NSFAS preprares for the 2022 cycle; the entity plans to close all new annual and semester 1 registration by the June
30, 2021.

All the identified registration data exceptions have been quantified and engagements with institutons are
underway to resolve them:

Exception - Descriptions No. of Students Affected Remedial Action

First Time Entering Student (FTENs)
registration against a qualification 3,936 NSFAS has identified all students
that is not Higher Education Qualifi- affected by these issues, shared
cation Sub framework aligned and is details with institutions to inform
being phased out students and or correct the
identified exceptions.
Registration against an expired
qualification 3,256 In addition, NSFAS has exposed this
information to Universities South
Africa (uSAF) to coordinate an action
First time entering registration plan and response from Higher
against a qualification that is Higher 1,732 Education Institutions (HEIs)/Univer-
Education Qualification Sub frame- sities.
work aligned and has passed its last
date for enrolments Institutions have started to respond,
and correct accordingly.
N+ Rule exceeded 1,339

Student has already obtained their 14

first undergraduate
qualification

Student is registering on a Postgrad- 43

uate Certificate in Education(PGCE)/
Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting
PGDA qualification for the first time
and as a result cannot be funded as
per the 2021 DHET Guidelines

Student has obtained a higher certif- 150

icate and is attempting to register on
another Higher Certificate

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3.3.1 NSFAS Adjusted the disbursement schedule and payment process for universities
To ensure consistency and stability of disbursements to studends NSFAS opted to pay institutions two months in
advance and in terms of the Memorundum of Understanding (MOU) institutions are required to disburse funds to
students within 7 days after receipt of funds from NSFAS. This is an interim measure while NSFAS is improving its
disbursement system.

Total payments made to universities to date amount to of R 13,591,914,467.00. This includes R7,903,042,378.14
advance payment that was made in April to cover 2021 March and April Allowances. The disbursement made on the
June 9, 2021 covered allowances for May, June and July. All but two institutions have reconciled the upfront payment
against the actual registration data – the two outstanding had up to the June 30, 2021 to submit reprocessed data.

On June 9, 2021, NSFAS made a further payment to institutions based on the actual compliant registration information
received from institutions, this payment was made to cover 410 211 compliant students.

3.3.2 Year to date university payments made:

There has been two payments made to universities since start of the academic year 2021:
i) First payment: April 9, 2021 NSFAS paid and advance amount of approximately R7,9bn to cover March and April
allowances to students at universities.
ii) 2nd Payment: June 10, 2021 a further R6,9bn was paid over after a reconciliation was effected based on the value
of registration data received, this payment is aimed for May, June and July 2021.
iii) NSFAS will commence with the adjustment process to enable institutions to reconcile accounts and submit cost
reductions where necessary. This process will assist towards the reconciliation of 2021 funding and minimise the
risks associated with delays in accounts reconciliations as noted in the past.

3.3.3 The breakdown of payments per institution is detailed in table 4 below.

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Table 4: cumulative university disbursements 2021

Institution Name Number of Students Sum of Amount paid

UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG 14587 761,437,587.50

UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH 3830 241,106,972.00

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN 5877 407,140,867.00

UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND 11023 347,848,355.00

UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE 11094 399,204,315.00

UNIVERSITY OF FREE STATE 21701 1,050,077,167.00

UNIVERSITY OF MPUMALANGA 3800 164,467,117.50

NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY 15447 675,254,837.50

CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 15224 574,325,323.00

MANGOSUTHU UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 8317 285,312,282.00

UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE 7072 333,833,051.50

UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA 11744 677,016,974.50

UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPO 519 25,580,697.50

WALTER SISULU UNIVERSITY 15921 679,098,226.50

UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU NATAL 22465 1,064,282,537.00

SEFAKO MAKGATHO HEALTH SCIENCE UNIVERSITY 2322 125,320,686.50

VAAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 13162 553,179,266.00

UNIVERSITY OF VENDA 8001 363,209,145.00

DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 20797 929,771,261.00

UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND 9474 598,524,722.50

NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY 21624 973,806,639.50

SOL PLAATJE UNIVERSITY 1418 64,047,677.50

RHODES UNIVERSITY 3094 196,865,814.00

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 8276 278,004,460.00

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA 153422 1,824,198,484.00

3.4 2021 Funding, Registration and Disbursements for TVETs

3.4.1 TVET Registration Data Received and Processed

In relation to TVET colleges; NSFAS started making upfront payments to institutions in February 2021. The upfronts
made were calculated based on 20 percent of the tuition allocation for 2021. This was meant to assist colleges with
cash flow while they await registration-based disbursements only to commence when NSFAS receives the DHET
allocation in April. TVET colleges started submitting the registration data to NSFAS in March, upon which NSFAS
commenced with disbursements.

Total registration data received to date stands at least 90% of expected registrations from colleges. which is a fair per-
centage considering that not all eligible students end up registering in a TVET College. TVET colleges were requested
to confirm outstanding registration records and very few confirmed with just less than 2000 new registration claims
being submitted in April and May after NSFAS intervention.

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Table 5 provides the details of registrations received to date from the TVET Colleges, inclusive of Trimester 2 registra-
tions. Out of 365 191 students, there are 202 460 students who are funded for the first academic cycles that NSFAS has
made a funding allocation for. While 223 410 students have been claimed for by colleges 20 950 are identified as reg-
istration data exceptions which NSFAS categorised as multiple registrations and where students are changing courses
which is in contravention of the TVET funding rules.

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Table 5: Overview of TVET Registration Data Received and Exceptions Identified

Institution Name Funding Registration Registration Registration
Eligible Recieved Exceptions Linked
BOLAND COLLEGE 6,605 4,287 158 4,129
BUFFALO CITY COLLEGE 4,615 2,396 42 2,354
CAPRICORN COLLEGE 15,076 7,760 565 7,195
CENTRAL JOHANNESBURG COLLEGE 7,866 3,884 228 3,656
COASTAL KZN FET COLLEGE 12,681 7,140 755 6,385
COLLEGE OF CAPE TOWN 7,581 4,916 482 4,434
EAST CAPE MIDLANDS 5,733 4,121 696 3,425
EHLANZENI FET COLLEGE 9,532 5,046 383 4,663
EKURHULENI EAST COLLEGE 8,433 5,603 486 5,117
EKURHULENI WEST COLLEGE 12,441 7,731 617 7,114
ELANGENI COLLEGE 12,698 6,049 542 5,507
ESYANDI FET COLLEGE 7,799 5,715 703 5,012
FALSE BAY COLLEGE 5,054 3,134 55 3,079
FLAVIUS MAREKA FET COLLEGE 4,457 3,255 925 2,330
GERTS SIBANDE FET COLLEGE 10,500 6,957 289 6,668
GOLDFIELDS FET COLLEGE 3,916 1,570 49 1,521
IKHALA PUBLIC FURTHER ED AND TRAINING 4,615 2,637 292 2,345
INGWE PUBLIC FET COLLEGE 5,318 3,371 172 3,199
KING HINTSA PUBLIC FET COLLEGE 2,422 1,593 197 1,396
KING SABATA DALINDYEBO FET COLLEGE 5,647 3,359 413 2,946
LEPHALALE FET COLLEGE 3,098 1,493 17 1,476
LETABA FET COLLEGE 4,370 2,999 187 2,812
LOVEDALE PUBLIC FET COLLEGE 4,574 2,715 139 2,576
MAJUBA COLLEGE 15,412 9,826 403 9,423
MALUTI FET COLLEGE 7,549 5,721 225 5,496
MNAMBITHI FET COLLEGE 3,583 2,841 162 2,679
MOPANI SOUTH EAST FET COLLEGE 6,096 4,362 48 4,314
MOTHEO FET COLLEGE 9,714 4,214 179 4,035
MTHASHANA FET COLLEGE 4,282 2,872 169 2,703
NKANGALA FET COLLEGE 9,353 6,457 803 5,654
NORTHERN CAPE RURAL FET COLLEGE 2,966 2,125 187 1,938
NORTHERN CAPE URBAN FET COLLEGE 3,396 2,381 511 1,870
NORTHLINK COLLEGE 11,373 7,972 1,674 6,298
ORBIT FET COLLEGE 6,092 4,041 697 3,344
PORT ELIZABETH COLLEGE 5,448 3,387 155 3,232
SEDIBENG COLLEGE 9,152 6,921 852 6,069
SEKHUKHUNE FET COLLEGE 4,847 2,739 44 2,695
SOUTH CAPE COLLEGE 4,107 3,117 258 2,859
SOUTH WEST GAUTENG COLLEGE 11,318 6,572 303 6,269
TALETSO FET COLLEGE 4,816 2,819 122 2,697
THEKWINI FET COLLEGE 6,978 3,286 578 2,708
TSHWANA NORTH COLLEGE 10,701 5,014 750 4,264
TSHWANE SOUTH COLLEGE 7,933 4,554 901 3,653
UMFOLOZI COLLEGE 8,731 6,241 506 5,735
UMGUNGUNNDLOVU FET COLLEGE 9,500 3,607 460 3,147
VHEMBE FET COLLEGE 12,626 9,458 1,242 8,216
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 NSFAS 2021 - PROGRAMME STATUS REPORT

Institution Name Funding Registration Registration Registration

Eligible Recieved Exceptions Linked
VUSELELA FET COLLEGE 5,789 3,180 306 2,874
WATERBERG FET COLLEGE 6,114 2,878 13 2,865
WEST COAST COLLEGE 5,789 4,156 209 3,947
WESTERN COLLEGE 6,397 4,938 801 4,137
Grand Total 365,191 223,410 20,950 202,460

NSFAS made provisional funding for 365 191 students to study in colleges for the 2021 programme. Total registration
data records received from institutions as at the end of June 2021 inclusive of Annual, Trimester 1, and Trimester 2
students are 223, 410. A total of 202, 460 have been successfully processed and funded with 20 950* exceptions iden-
tified. NSFAS embarked on an exercise to confirm funding with institutions and only 17 TVET Colleges responded con-
firming that they have 7 903 outstanding registrations to be submitted for the first academic cycle ending June 2021.

The reason for the registration exceptions is due to students changing academic courses which is contrary to the
Bursary Rules and Guidelines. NSFAS is engaging with the Department to resolve these matters and find an amicable
solution that will be favourable to the students.

3.4.2 TVET Disbursements and Payments:

There are 44 TVET colleges whose allowances are paid directly to the students through the NSFAS Wallet platform.
Before any payment is processed NSFAS is dependent on three critical stakeholders namely, DHET (submission of
accurate results), institutions (submission of registration data), and students (registering on myNSFAS account).

NSFAS has been able to make payments to 183 422 students. There are 20,950 students who for various reasons
Paid or not paid? as indicated above.

These students are in exceptions which largely consists of 13, 276 that were initially incorrectly funded and had sub-
sequently been resolved (to be included in the payment for the week ending June 30, 2021). A total of 4 461 students
whose payment failed on the NSFAS wallet largely due to invalid or duplicated cellphone numbers Balance of students
in exceptions of cancelled registrations, students de-registered and or late submission of data by institutions.

For all students currently identified under exceptions, NSFAS has communicated the list of failed wallet payments to
institutions so that they can contact students given that the contact details are incorrect. Furthermore, there is an au-
tomated email that is sent to twice a week to notify them of students who do not have a user profile which is critical
in the disbursement process as it ensures that students have a unique cellphone number. NSFAS is aware, and there
are ongoing investigations into syndicates that exist to defraud students of their allowances. Students are reminded
not to share any of their personal information and password with anyone. For a successful wallet payment, a student
must have a unique and valid cellphone number.

3.4.3 NSFAS Wallet Analysis on Locked and Blocked Accounts

There are 20 991 students who have not created user profiles on the myNSFAS student portal. This is the biggest
challenge confronting NSFAS which contributes largely to the NSFAS wallet payment failures. Students who have not
created myNSFAS portal are urged to do so to receive their allowances.

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Table 6: Analysis of NSFAS Wallet Accounts

Wallet Status Locked Accounts Open Grand Total

Active 6345 172116 178461

Blocked 336 1446 1782

Closed - 50 50

Grand Total 6681 173612 180293

There are 180 293 students whom NSFAS attempted to pay using the NSFAS wallet system, 6 681 of which could not
be paid because of locked accounts (which means student may have forgotten their pins) and 336 have blocked ac-
counts, meaning there was a failed attempt to unlock the accounts. Students are unable to retrieve their funds when: i)
they share cellphone numbers; or ii) when the cellphone number registerered on their myNSFAS profile is not consis-
tent with their myNSFAS Wallet number.

3.4.4 How to create a myNSFAS account

The student must have their own:

Valid email address and cellphone number.

 South African ID number.

 South African ID copy.

The student must subsequently follow three basic steps to access the portal:

Step 1: Log onto https//: www.nsfas.org.za and click on REGISTER

Give consent to NSFAS for verification of your details with third party sources by ticking the appropriate box
where consent is required.

(This will enable NSFAS to verify your information against Home Affairs. Student must check and verify that
information submitted is accurate).

 Step 2: Complete all the necessary fields and upload a copy of the ID.
Click on submit to complete the registration of the account. You will receive a message with a One Time Pin
on the cellphone and email address that you provided.

 Step 3: Enter the One Time Pin and click submit

A confirmation message will be sent to the student to confirm the profile have been created.

3.4.5 Process to follow when resolving locked and blocked accounts

Students whose accounts get blocked/locked are required to follow tbasic recovery steps to access their NSFAS wallet
again:

An account will be blocked if there are any suspicious transactions, whereas an account will be locked if the student
entered their password incorrectly several times and/or they cannot accurately verify their details through the authen-
tication process

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Option 1:
NSFAS has introduced a Wallet Chat to assist students with locked/blocked accounts. In order to reset a myNSFAS
Wallet account, the student must provide a copy of their ID as well as their cellphone number and email address to a
NSFAS consultant. The student must subsequently log on to their myNSFAS account by going to www.nsfas.org.za,
clicking on the “myNSFAS” tab and supplying their login details when prompted. Afterwhich the student must click
on the “Chat” option, where a consultant will be made available to assist them with resetting their myNSFAS wallet
account.

Option 2:
A self-service option which enables NSFAS students who receive their allowances through the NSFAS Wallet the ability
to unlock their NSFAS Wallet accounts any time and from anywhere has been deployed.

Below are the required steps a student must follow to unlock their NSFAS Wallet account:

Dial *120*176# from their cellphone:

1. Click the option ‘Unlock with OTP’.

2. A One Time Pin (OTP) will be sent via SMS to their cellphone.
3. Then type in the OTP and press enter.
4. They will receive another notification stating that their account is unlocked. They are then able to access
their NSFAS Wallet account.

Option 3: FAO Assisted Process

1. A student may go to their Financial Aid Office (FAO) a declaration form which they will use to authenticate
themselves and put in correct information to unblock their account.
2. The FAO receives the form from the student and certified ID copy. This information is then emailed to the relevant
official at NSFAS to ensure resolution.
 
4. OTHER ISSUES AFFECTING REGISTRATION DATA AND IMPACT ON ALLOWANCES

4.1 Registration data issues

A student may be eligible for funding but is only funded when NSFAS receives a valid registration record
from an institution and is able to link that record successfully. This is crucial for many reasons:

• NSFAS cannot release funds for students it has not received a registration record for as it needs the confirmation
that the student is indeed registered at a public university or college. This information is also necessary for the entity
to know whether it is a TVET or university student, what the tuition costs are and which allowances will be applicable.
The scheme also needs this information to validate the qualification. This is one of the most significant dependencies
NSFAS has on institutions.

• NSFAS does not always receive registration records for students on time. In some cases, NSFAS receives registration
records for students as late as November or December in an academic year. This practice will no longer be allowed
as NSFAS has communicated closing dates for registration data submission to all institutions. Any institution sub
mitting after the closing date will have to request permission from NSFAS to do so. NSFAS is blind to this as it cannot
detect which students are registered at institutions but for whom a registration record has not yet been received. The
impact on the student is devastating, with many students having to go without allowances for an extended part of the
year. This is often time blamed on NSFAS when in fact it is not at fault.

• NSFAS sometimes receives inaccurate or poor-quality registration data. The NSFAS integration system has data
validation capabilities in order to limit erroneous processing. If institutions submit data that does not meet the data
quality requirements or validation rules, the affected records (which represent students) are rejected and returned
to the institution with detailed reasons why each record failed the upload process. The submission of poor-quality
registration data is another source of funding delays.

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• As indicated earlier if a student is eligible, but registered on an unfunded qualification, then this record is rejected
with clear reasons. Institutions do not always explain this to students and simply refer them to NSFAS, when the
issue is the qualification the student is registered for. This exacerbates student confusion and dis-content. As a
result of this issue, a student may be eligible, but not funded and/or not receive allowances.

4.2 Registration data impact on allowances

For a student to receive allowances, they must be funded – i.e. the student must be eligible and a valid registration
record received from an institution. Without this, no allowances can be released.

NSFAS allowances are disbursed in one of two ways:

• Directly from NSFAS to the student – this applies to TVET students only where the college has opted for this model
• To the institution who then pays the allowances

Both models have inherent limitations;

• In the direct model, student need to confirm their payment details (in this case a mobile number to which the
payments need to be made). To do this, students need to register on the MyNSFAS portal and update their details.
There are many cases where this does not happen, or happens late, despite numerous campaigns to students.
Without these details, NSFAS cannot make a payment.

The direct channel has experienced high instances of fraud with scammers targeting students for their PIN details.
To protect students, additional security features have been implemented, which blocks or locks accounts. The pro-
cess for unlocking and unblocking student accounts is a known source of frustration and is being reviewed in order to
streamline the process. This will be an interim solution.

NSFAS will be going out on tender for a more improved and payment system.
• In the institution model, NSFAS is dependent on the institutions to pay the allowances to students on time. NSFAS is
aware of instances where this is not the case. As a result of this, and many other instances of institutional non-
compliance, NSFAS is initiating an institutional audit process to detect such instances and enforce compliance
requirements more stringently.

The factors stated above do not in anyway remove the burden on NSFAS to ensure that there is funding to the right stu-
dent and in a timely manner. There are still system and process issues that NSFAS still needs to address but highlight
there fact that there are a number of dependencies that NSFAS has from students, institutions and in some instances
the DHET is important.

5. CONTINUING STUDENT APPEALS

Continuing students’ appeals process was reviewed during this academic year, NSFAS is now directly involved in the
processing of continuing student appeals. To this end, a system-based functionality has been developed to enable
institutions to upload appeals onto the portal and NSFAS to review as necessary. This process enables students to
obtain an appeal decision real-time. Students should log onto the myNSFAS portal to track their appeal status. The
next phase of the tool is to develop a reporting tool to be able to track and the institutional appeals report on the
NSFAS portal.

Below is the summary of appeals received and processed to date:

5.1 Universities:
A few challenges were experienced in the processing of continuing student appeals. The system functionality was
not available immediately when the appeals process opened. It therefore meant NSFAS has had to extend appeals to
accommodate institutional submissions. Submission of appeals was extended from 31 May to 30 June 2021. At this
point there are 2 086 appeals have been received and are in different stages of processing, 830 are approved with a
funded status, 1246 are in various stages of processing, including assessing appeals supporting documents, request-
ing of additional information and or appeals that were received late by NSFAS. NSFAS intends to finalise and close the
appeals process on the June 30, 2021.

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Table 8: University Continuing Students’ Appeals

Institution Name Funded Not Funded Grand Total

CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 172 85 257
DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY 28 56 84

NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY 179 311 490

RHODES UNIVERSITY 41 1 42

SEFAKO MAKGATHO HEALTH SCIENCE UNIVERSITY 11 41 52

SOL PLAATJIE UNIVERSITY 4 - 4

UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN 34 5 39
UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE 17 17 34

UNIVERSITY OF FREE STATE 51 51

UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU NATAL 104 128 232

UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPO 9 2 11
UNIVERSITY OF MPUMALANGA 12 2 14
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA 24 26 50

UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH 28 1 29
UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE 11 17 28
UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND 61 16 77

UNIVERSITY OF VENDA 1 1

UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND 14 408 422

WALTER SISULU UNIVERSITY 30 139 169

Grand Total 830 1256 2086

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5.2 TVET Colleges:

There have been 8 253 appeals submitted to date by 38 Colleges of which 5 988 have been approved for funding. There
are 2265 students who are not funded based on the appeals received and processed.

Table 9: TVET Colleges continuing student appeals processed

Institution Name Funded Not Funded Grand Total

BOLAND COLLEGE 9 5 14
CAPRICORN COLLEGE 35 7 42
CENTRAL JOHANNESBURG COLLEGE 37 3 40
EAST CAPE MIDLANDS 18 12 30
EHLANZENI FET COLLEGE 476 20 496
EKURHULENI WEST COLLEGE 3 - 3
ELANGENI COLLEGE 21 3 24
ESAYIDI FET COLLEGE 77 12 89
FALSE BAY COLLEGE 8 3 11
FLAVIUS MAREKA FET COLLEGE 31 150 181
GERT SIBANDE FET COLLEGE 64 36 100
GOLDFIELDS FET COLLEGE 16 37 53
IKHALA PUBLIC FURTHER ED AND TRAINING 91 2 93
KING SABATA DALINDYEBO FET COLLEGE 2608 467 3075
LETABA FET COLLEGE 243 346 589
LOVEDALE PUBLIC FET COLLEGE 251 164 415
MAJUBA COLLEGE 298 145 443
MALUTI FET COLLEGE 35 - 35
MNAMBITHI FET COLLEGE 30 - 30
MTHASHANA FET COLLEGE 60 2 62
NKANGALA FET COLLEGE 187 19 206
NORTHERN CAPE RURAL FET COLLEGE 4 - 4
NORTHERN CAPE URBAN FET COLLEGE 6 91 97
NORTHLINK COLLEGE 12 184 196
ORBIT FET COLLEGE 88 18 106
PORT ELIZABETH COLLEGE 6 - 6
SEDIBENG COLLEGE 33 - 33
SOUTH CAPE COLLEGE 6 - 6
SOUTH WEST GAUTENG COLLEGE 48 5 53
TALETSO FET COLLEGE 42 11 53
TSHWANE SOUTH COLLEGE 146 - 146
UMFOLOZI COLLEGE 29 1 30
UMGUNGUNDLOVU FET COLLEGE 44 7 51

VHEMBE FET COLLEGE 127 5 132

VUSELELA FET COLLEGE 53 6 59
WATERBERG FET COLLEGE 15 2 17
WEST COAST COLLEGE 173 39 212
WESTERN COLLEGE 558 265 823

Grand Total 5988 2265 8253

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6. CONCLUSION

Despite the many challenges experienced at the start of the 2021 academic year, due to expected higher demand for
NSFAS funding and the need to ensure budget adequacy before finalising the allocations, the DHET response has ad-
dressed the anticipated shortfall, and NSFAS is confident that all students who are deserving of NSFAS Funding will
be funded.

To this end, significant progress was made in funding allocations to universities and TVET Colleges. The 2020
COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the start of the academic year, as most students are studying re-
motely, issues of access to technology and data have presented many challenges, and some students are not able to
submit all supporting documents to enable NSFAS and institutions to complete the funding processes. However, all
sectors adjusted plans to ensure stability at institutions as the 2021 programme started.

To date, NSFAS received and processed registration data from both colleges and universities and is continually making
payments for students that have been confirmed as funding eligible. NSFAS has identified a few exceptions related to
non-compliance to the DHET Rules and Guidelines in as far registration data that is not aligned to funded qualifica-
tions. For these, NSFAS is engaging institutions to rectify and ensure that students are registered on funded qualifica-
tions. Additionally, where results are outstanding to complete funding of students; NSFAS was granted permission to
obtain results directly from the colleges to speed up funding for the college students. Despite this progress, there are
still challenges around the NSFAS wallet blockages product. Fraudulent activities have been noted and NSFAS con-
tinues to make students aware of the importance of profile management to manage this risk and report any abnormal
activities on the accounts.

NSFAS has put a process in place to manage exceptions across the funding value chain. These exceptions are cate-
gorised and communicated with affected institutions. Institutions are advised to work very closely with their assigned
NSFAS Service Agent to resolve the identified exceptions. NSFAS intends to resolve any exceptions within the pro-
gramme cycle.

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[email protected] | www.nsfas.org.za
Postal Address: Private Bag X1, Plumstead 7801, South Africa
Physical Address: 10 Brodie Road, House Vincent 2nd Floor, Wynberg, Cape Town 7700

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