DA to hold NSFAS accountable after student housing portal failures

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will demand answers from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) after its new online accommodation portal failed to deliver on promises to students.

The DA has written to the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training to present a report on the accreditation of private student accommodation and to insist NSFAS account for serious problems connected to its new system.

NSFAS introduced an online accommodation portal intended to streamline how private housing providers are accredited and paid for hosting students funded by the scheme. The portal removed the role of universities in facilitating payments, assigning these tasks instead to “solution partners” appointed by NSFAS.

However, oversight visits and submissions from Student Representative Councils (SRCs) paint a different picture on the ground. According to the DA, the portal has led to unpaid accommodation centres, unsafe living conditions, insufficient security and poor maintenance — even in places that were officially “accredited” to meet departmental standards.

“Vulnerable students are being forced to live in unsafe and degrading conditions because of NSFAS’ failures,” the DA said in its statement. The party said it was “deeply concerned and angered” by the situation.

Because the system now excludes universities from the process, students have struggled to get quick redress for poor housing, the DA added. Through its student wing, the Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO), the party has been compiling cases of accommodation problems that it plans to present to NSFAS for answers.

The DA’s actions echo broader concerns about NSFAS accommodation failures seen in previous years, where students and landlords alike have reported delays in payments and unsuitable living conditions.