The distressed Matjhabeng Municipality in the Free State says its challenges won’t prevent it from continuing developing communities including the youth. The municipality has teamed up with the National Student Financial Aid (NSFAS) Scheme to assist to register the youth from poor communities in the municipality’s six towns who need financial assistance to further their studies.
The municipality’s mayoral programme comes at a time when thousands of students at institutions of higher learning are at loggerhead with their institutions about a funding mechanism.
Kedibone Moikabi and Kenosi Phejane from Allanridge are part of the youth who have registered and are hopeful that they will get financial assistance.
“We are thankful for this NSFAS programme to come here and help us. We are happy, this means we will be able to go to school next year if we are successful. I hope the programme will assist other needy youth,” says Moikabi.
“They are assisting us because we used to waste a lot of money travelling. This opportunity serves us with a chance to have ambitions to go to school next year. We thank Mayor Speelman and NSFAS,” adds Phejane.
Municipal executive member Nkosinjani Speelman says they approached NSFAS after learning that many youth could not afford to pay for tertiary education.
“Remember what Nelson Mandela said he said the better life or the better tool to change the life of a black child is education. So that is my intention. Remember I am from a poor family when I passed matric I didn’t get bursary or assistance so that is why I want these people to get an education. So as the municipality I work with NSFAS from Cape Town to assist learners from Matjhabeng and it six towns.”
NSFAS stops funding students
Meanwhile, in August NSFAS confirmed that a total of 5000 students who were funded for the 2020 academic year were unfunded.
This came after financial information obtained from South African Revenue Services (SARS) revealed that these students had declared their total household family income was above the R350 000 threshold.
NSFAS to stop funding 5000 students
