In 2024, NSFAS faced backlash over its R2.5 million monthly rent for office space in Cape Town’s Foreshore area. Following public criticism, its Legal Services Unit launched a review to either reduce the rented space or cancel the lease entirely.
NSFAS initially aimed to complete the review by 25 October 2024, but progress has been significantly delayed.
Higher Education Minister Nobuhule Nkabana explained that the delay is due to NSFAS not yet securing alternative premises.
The date for moving premises is unknown at this stage as new premises have not yet been procured. The same applies to the addresses of where these premises will be.
The decentralisation process, which includes opening new NSFAS offices nationwide, has also been postponed following a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) ruling on 25 February 2025. The CCMA ruled that the Decentralisation Task Team’s work must be put on hold until consultations take place with the majority union at the Bargaining Forum.
Meanwhile, NSFAS has joined the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in legal efforts to set aside the lease agreement. The scheme confirmed that it is a co-applicant in an application to the Special Tribunal.
Criticism of the Cape Town Lease
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, Tebogo Letsie, supported the Higher Education Minister’s plans to terminate the lease. Letsie has long been critical of NSFAS’s decision to relocate from Wynberg to the Foreshore.
While many students suffered from funding delays, getting their allowances on time, and accommodation challenges, the entity enjoyed a building with scenic views at a staggering R2.5 million a month.
The Cape Town office has been a contentious issue, especially as NSFAS pushes forward with its decentralisation strategy. Plans have been announced to open new offices in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal, with the Cape Town office expected to close.
NSFAS’s budget is bigger than many national departments, and we have always maintained that its offices should be in Gauteng, where the highest concentration of students is.
Controversy Over NSFAS’s Move to the Foreshore
NSFAS’s relocation to the Foreshore was widely criticised for its high rental costs and limited accessibility for students.
In early 2023, United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa called for a criminal investigation into NSFAS’s rental arrangements. He alleged that between December 2021 and September 2022, NSFAS paid nearly R20 million for office space it had yet to occupy.
Former NSFAS spokesperson Slumezi Skosana defended the move, stating that the intention was to improve student access. However, critics argued that the previous Wynberg offices, located near major transport routes, were more accessible.
Skosana also denied claims that the offices remained unoccupied for the first two months of the lease. He asserted that a staggered relocation took place and that NSFAS received a rental holiday for the first two months, only paying 50% of the rent in the third month.
