More than 150 landlords in Mpumalanga are on the brink of financial ruin after the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) failed to pay them for 2024 student accommodation.
The landlords are now drowning in debt, unable to pay their mortgages, staff salaries or municipal bills.
These landlords, who are contracted to the University of Mpumalanga (UMP) to provide student accommodation, have banded together under the
Mpumalanga Accommodation Service Association (Masa).
“We thought we were investing in a business that would provide a decent living while giving students safe, stable accommodation,” said Masa chairperson Robert Dlamini.
“Instead, we found ourselves trapped in a nightmare where we are expected to serve without compensation while watching our businesses collapse. We have about 100 students still owing rent from last year.”
For months, NSFAS ignored landlords’ pleas. It was only after media exposure this week that the scheme scrambled to make partial payments but even then, only 20 landlords out of 150 received a portion of what was owed.
Some landlords have already started eviction processes, warning that unless NSFAS settles its debts by month-end, students will have to seek alternative accommodation.
Student Dineo Nyakane, 22, from Bushbuckridge, owes R14 000 from last year after not being funded for 2024.
“My grandmother and I cried when they demanded I pay R7 000 before I could register. I had to plead and borrow it from relatives just to be accepted at UMP. I now survive on prayer.”
“In complying with our student debt management policy, students with outstanding debt from the previous year are not able to register even though they have NSFAS funding for this year,” said UMP spokesperson Tlangelani Ubisi.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education chairperson Tebogo Letsie said the new NSFAS board should prioritise fixing the accommodation mess.
“Students deserve an institution that supports them financially, allowing them to focus on their studies.
“They should not be grappling with accommodation and funding challenges that NSFAS should have resolved.”
