Wednesday, 19 August 2026

Public Protector found systemic maladministration at NSFAS, with 40,000 eligible students left unfunded despite a R3 billion allocation and another 40,000 improperly funded at an estimated R5.1 billion; minister ordered to submit remedial plan by 1 November.

CPUT shut campuses and residences after a building was torched and protests escalated over a financial recovery plan; students handed Parliament a revised memorandum, while the committee said universities must address their own accommodation-cost agreements.

A caller from Limpopo described alcohol abuse tearing his family apart, with his mother deceased, his father missing, the siblings homeless, and his younger sister nearly raped while they were living on the streets.

DA MP Delmaine Christians backed urgent NSFAS reform, saying the system is in governance and cash-flow crisis and should move to a more decentralised model with funding handled closer to universities and students.