GEORGE NEWS - Some South Cape TVET College students from the George campus are questioning the college’s handling of Nsfas-funded accommodation after they were encouraged to move from existing housing in George to accredited accommodation in Wilderness.
The students claim the move was arranged without their consent, but the college says students were given the choice to relocate.
A group of these students went to George Police Station last Wednesday, 5 August, to raise their concerns about accommodation arrangements they claim were made without their consent.
The students alleged that the college had concluded rental agreements for accommodation at a hotel in Wilderness on their behalf, despite some of them already having accommodation in George. They said they had not yet received their Nsfas accommodation allowances and were struggling to pay their current landlords.
One student said she suspected the college had already received the NSFAS money, but was withholding it from the landlords in George in an effort to push the students towards the Wilderness accommodation.
In response to George Herald's enquiries, the college denied signing any rental agreements with the hotel or concluding lease agreements with landlords on behalf of students.
According to communications officer Marnus de Klerk, when its official residences reached full capacity, students who registered for semester 2 from 7 July secured accommodation in unaccredited private housing in George. In accordance with the Nsfas accommodation policy, accredited accommodation must be utilised before unaccredited accommodation, and when additional Nsfas-accredited beds at the hotel became available on 30 July, the college began onboarding eligible students who had previously submitted lease agreements for unaccredited accommodation.
De Klerk said the students were informed through the campus communication channels that accredited accommodation had become available. Onboarding was conducted voluntarily on campus on Friday 31 July, with the assistance of the Nsfas student housing platform contact centre.
Taxi transport to the hotel was also arranged on the same day for students who chose to relocate to the hotel. "No student was forced to move. The college only assisted students who voluntarily chose to relocate to the accredited accommodation," said De Klerk.
He warned, however, that in terms of the Nsfas accommodation policy, the students who chose to remain in unaccredited accommodation while accredited beds are available may forfeit their Nsfas accommodation allowance.
Regarding the channelling of funds, he said the Nsfas pays accommodation allowances directly to the accredited accommodation providers. Students in unaccredited accommodation receive their accommodation allowance directly into their personal bank accounts, provided they qualify.
He said the college only receives accommodation funding for students living in official college-owned residences and has received no Nsfas accommodation funding for semester 2.
The first Nsfas payment run was scheduled for students whose funded registration data had been uploaded by 10 August, subject to all required verification processes being completed. Subject to Nsfas approval, the payments were expected to start from 25 August, according to De Klerk.
The students who spoke to the newspaper said between 50 and 80 students had not applied for the Wilderness accommodation because they already had places to stay in George.
George Herald could not ascertain whether a charge was indeed laid against the college. The newspaper was unable to obtain a police case number from the students, and the Southern Cape Police's spokesperson, Warrant Officer Chris Spies, said no information could be retrieved from official records at the George Police Station pertaining to the matter.
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