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Urgent communication regarding payment of subsidies to NSFAS-funded UFS students

06 April 2022 | Story Lacea Loader

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) confirmed in a circular this week that monies will be paid to universities on 8 April 2022.

This will be the first payment that the University of the Free State (UFS) receives from NSFAS this year, as per the media statement by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande.

So far this year, the UFS management has made several concessions to students to alleviate their financial pressure while waiting for their NSFAS subsidies to be released.

This week, the university management – through active engagements and input from the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) – agreed on the following process for book and meal allowances to be transferred to students’ bank accounts at the earliest possible opportunity:

As in the past, the services of Fundi will be used to pay the allowances to students.
Fundi will inform the recipients of monies received for them.
After the banking details of students have been validated, monies are transferred to a student’s bank account. Fundi will inform students whose banking details are incorrect to rectify it on the Fundi website.
Students who have not received payments before, will be requested to upload their banking details on the Fundi website, after which payment will be made.

It is anticipated that students whose bank accounts are with Standard Bank will receive notice of the payment of their allowance as soon as Friday, 8 April 2022.

Students banking with other banks will receive their payments subject to the inter-banking money transfer policies of the different banks, but not later than two business days after payment.

What students must do:

Ensure that you upload the correct banking details.
Upload your OWN banking details, not the banking details of friends or family.
Ensure that your cellphone number is correct and active on PeopleSoft.
Respond as quickly as possible to SMSes received from Fundi.

The university management would like to thank the majority of students for their patience during this difficult time while waiting for the NSFAS subsidies to be released.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za

News Archive

SA and Africa must avoid going over the edge

2017-02-26

From left are: Prof JM Moosa (Centre for African
Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India),
Prof Hussein Solomon (Senior Professor: Political
Studies and Governance at the UFS),
Prof Virgil Hawkins (Osaka School of International
Public Policy Studies, Osaka University in Japan), and
Prof Ajay Dubey (Centre for African Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, India).
Photo: Jóhann Thormählen

South Africa and the rest of Africa might be standing on the edge of a cliff and therefore conversations are necessary to avoid tipping over. According to Prof Hussein Solomon that was why a conference to address these issues was recently co-hosted by the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof Solomon, Senior Professor of Political Studies and Governance at the UFS, said the continent and country needed to make the right decisions. “These right choices refer to the correct economic, political, and social policies.”

International delegates attend
Delegates from India, Japan, Zambia, Lesotho and South Africa attended the conference, called A View from the Precipice: Critical Reflections on South Africa and Africa in the 21st Century, on 13 and 14 February 2017 on the Bloemfontein Campus. It was co-hosted by the UFS Department of Political Studies and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University (India), Centre for the Engagement on African Peace and Security, Southern African Centre for Collaboration on Peace and Security and Osaka University (Japan).

Prof Solomon said external actors provided a useful mirror as they gave an idea of how Africa and South Africa were viewed from abroad.

Creating a knowledge-sharing forum
“It is not just about sharing knowledge, but creating a forum for sharing knowledge,” said Prof Virgil Hawkins from the Osaka School of International Public Policy Studies.
Prof Hawkins, who is a visiting professor at the UFS, said a conference like this was one of the cornerstones of the relationship between the UFS and Osaka University. Prof Solomon is also a visiting professor at last mentioned university.

Highlights of conference
Prof Solomon said some of the discussions included that “the ANC government is in crisis and is dragging the rest of the country with it”. Another participant said that 80% of the jobs in the next 20 years had not been created yet – which put the relevance of tertiary education in the spotlight.

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