In South Africa, students protest against an unfair financial aid system

In South Africa, they are protesting against an unfair system of financial assistance to pay for tuition and rent. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas against one group of demonstrators in Pretoria. Several people were detained at another protest. In Pinetown, students burned tires at a protest.

South African university students took to the streets after some of them were denied financial aid. In addition, to receive assistance, students must now open a bank account and pay a series of fees, up to 15%. Some students reported payment delays.

[WATCH] Students at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) most of them members of the @EFFStudents , are now gathering next to the Steve Biko Campus to protest over #NSFAS issues. @_NMabaso pic.twitter.com/1RGq6E7bVz

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) August 3, 2023

"The whole point of existence NSFAS is that you can't afford to pay for university, and now you're being charged more than everyone else,” University of Cape Town student Chad Ferrier told Daily Maverick.

Due to problems obtaining financial aid, students have underpaid universities by billions of rands. Thus, the University of Pretoria lost 530 million rand ($28 million), and the Sefako Makgatho Medical University lost 845 million rand ($44.6 million).

Representatives of the student financial aid system said that they were faced with falsification of applications. According to the organization, from 2018 to 2021, 40 thousand people allegedly received money fraudulently.

EWN Reporter

Herman Moloi

Context

• Thanks to the national financial aid program, the poorest students can pay for their university education.

• The average cost of studying at South African universities is almost 60 thousand rand per year (about three thousand dollars).