GEORGE NEWS - Delayed payment by the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) George Campus to local landlords who provide student housing has caused dissatisfaction among some, but the university says it has faced special challenges with payment systems because of Covid-19.

An unhappy landlord who wanted to remain anonymous said students arrived in March and three months had gone by before he received his first payment on Friday 4 June.

"I provide cleaning services, Wi-Fi and basic services such as water and electricity for the students. Some landlords depend on the income from the rental to cover bond payments," he complained.

He said he has been put in a very difficult situation. "We cannot provide a free service. We have costs to cover."

NMU George Campus communications manager Milisa Piko said the late payment was caused by system difficulties during the payment process in their overall payment to service providers.

The transition from the extended academic period to the new academic year, and delayed confirmation on funded students which caused delays in registrations were among the factors causing the hold-up. 

However, all payments that had been put on the system roll were to be ready for payment no later than 4 June. Service providers have been paid in full for three months - March, April and May. 

"In instances where it was picked up that they were not paid in full, the relevant department is alerted, and these get rectified," said Piko.

Service providers whose payments have not come through, should continue contacting the university to keep track of the process.

Payment even before NSFAS settlements received

Piko said the university payment system is set up in such a way that a payment can be made for a registered student even before NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) makes a payment to the university. "No upfront payment is made to the university.

"It must also be appreciated that NMU is among the very few, if not the only university in South Africa that acts as a conduit for payments to owners of private housing. The standard practice is that the allocations are made to students who are then expected to make rental payments directly to service providers.

However, Mandela University has in good faith opted for a system that would alleviate challenges that would emanate from non-payments from students," said Piko.

"The situation and the position we find ourselves in is regrettable and we are cognisant of the effect the late payments had on our service providers.

"We are committed to working together to deal with some of the challenges experienced during this period. The lessons learned will help all involved in improving the processes, more especially taking into consideration the uncertainty of the future developments because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic."

Piko said their emphasis going forward is to optimise the use of technology.

"In this, the department has already started having conversations with the university's ICT department to identify how the off-campus accommodation systems can be streamlined to meet the ever-changing aspects of the student accommodation environment."

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