In the interest of clarity, the breakdown is provided in terms of which NSFAS-allowance payments are calculated and paid out. At this point, CUT has received R64 million from NSFAS. So far, CUT has paid over R 93.4 million to all financially and academically deserving students.  The difference between money received from NSFAS and that total amount paid to students to date, has been funded from CUT-funds. It is standard practice that NSFAS refunds CUT in respect of the difference paid from CUT-funds. This arrangement results in no student been denied access because of financial exclusions.

Amounts paid to students are calculated in accordance with NSFAS guidelines, as illustrated in Table 1. NSFAS was established in terms of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Act 56 of 1999).  Given that NSFAS is a statutorily established entity, requires that all universities and students must understand and adhere to the prescribed rules relating to NSFAS allocations., Students are regularly encouraged to ensure that these allocations are utilised for its intended and prescribed purposes.  

Table 1: How does NSFAS calculate the allowances for CUT students?

Lease agreements between CUT Students and landlords

Table 2 provides a breakdown of the lease agreements received thus far (this is an NSFAS requirement – see above). The minus sign indicates students that have submitted agreements but do not qualify according to NSFAS-requirements and thus will not receive the accommodation allowance.

Table 2 – Breakdown of lease agreements received thus far

Local address students qualify for transport allowance only

Students who have local addresses (inside city Bloemfontein/Welkom perimeters) qualify for transport allowance only. If a student’s accommodation information is incorrect on the CUT-system, such students can verify the accommodation information at Academic Administration Offices which is situated at the Lapeng Student Centre (Bloemfontein campus) and the Main Administration Building (Welkom campus). The Protection Services employees at the Main Entrances of the respective campuses are able to provide directions to these venues if required.

Submission of lease agreement

Students who have not yet submitted their lease agreements are requested to do so as a matter of urgency. Go to the Fees and Financial Offices. Lapeng Student Centre (Bloemfontein campus) and Main Administration Building (Welkom campus).

CUT NSFAS-payments for 2020

To date, the following payments reflected in Table 3 have been made to students in respect of the 2020 academic year. Included are students who are NSFAS bursary holders, as well as other bursary holders for overview purposes.

Table 3 – NSFAS-payments made in 2020 academic year

More information about NSFAS, https://www.cut.ac.za/nsfas

In addition, it is important to indicate the extent of the consultations we had with our student leaders over time. Management has been working tirelessly and engaging continuously with our student leadership and key employees towards ensuring a smooth start to the 2020 academic year. These interventions included, inter alia, a Management Committee (Mancom) meeting on 12 December 2019; a Student Fees Committee (SFC) meeting on 13 January 2020; a Student Services Council (SSC) meeting on 15 January 2020; two meetings of the Executive Committee of Senate (Senex) on 21 and 24 January 2020, respectively; a meeting between Mancom and the Students’ Representative Councils (SRCs) at both campuses on 27 January 2020; a scheduled first-term Mancom/SRC meeting on 10 February 2020; a mass meeting of students on 11 February 2020 at the Bloemfontein campus, at which various matters were discussed, and a way forward was agreed upon; accepting a Memorandum of Demands from students of the Welkom campus on 14 February 2020; and presenting Management’s responses to these demands at a mass meeting with students at the Welkom campus on 18 February 2020. In addition, various engagements between myself, Executive and Senior Managers, and members of the SRCs at both campuses took place during the past few weeks.