The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has set an accommodation allowance payment date for April 2025. The payment run will include outstanding payments that were not paid to accommodation providers during previous payment cycles.
NSFAS spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi has confirmed that accommodation providers who were not paid during the last payment cycle will receive their outstanding funds on 18 April 2025.
Mnisi said the delay in payments was largely due to landlords failing to submit the necessary documentation, particularly lease agreements. He stressed that students must sign lease agreements, which accommodation providers must then submit to NSFAS for verification before payments can be made.
If you don't have that agreement, it means there is no agreement between NSFAS and the landlord to pay,
The verification process includes confirming that the student is NSFAS-funded and that the accommodation claim is valid. Without timely submission of these documents delays in disbursing student allowances are inevitable.
Some of these challenges led to landlords being owed in excess of R40 million in rent.
One of the core issues that have been sighted for non-payments has been the failure of students and landlords to sign lease agreements. The spokesperson said at the commencement of the academic year, landlords rush to house students. However, the failure to secure signed lease agreements means that NSFAS has no reason to pay accommodation providers as in some cases, students may not even be funded by the scheme.
NSFAS has launched an engagement campaign to help landlords understand the housing and payment processes. These sessions began in KwaZulu-Natal and will expand to other provinces.
We've agreed that we will work closer with them [landlords] to make sure that where they do not understand the process, we clarify it.
Mnisi said NSFAS is working to streamline its accommodation allowance payment system to avoid future delays.
