A group of Stellenbosch University (SU) students who study with funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) recently discovered that they would be expected to pay almost R1 000 more for accommodation than they initially expected.
This was according to Alizwa Wotshela, an SU student who acts as a representative for SU students living at Solaris Crest, an apartment complex in Eerste River.
Stellenbosch University (SU) students residing at Solaris Crest who study with funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme have been informed that they must pay almost R1 000 more for rent than they initially believed, says Alizwa Wotshela, SU student residing at Solaris Crest. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
‘These are students who have been sleeping outside’
According to the accredited accommodation list provided by SU in February, Solaris Crest’s rent was R4 500 per month, and was therefore categorised within the NSFAS accommodation cap of 2023, Wotshela informed SMF News.
However, in 2024, the cap lowered to R4 100, according to Phiwokuhle Qabaka, SU Student Representative Council (SRC) chairperson.
When students were required to sign their leases at Solaris Crest they were informed that rent would be R5 600, said Wotshela. “These are students who have been sleeping outside […] they were desperate,” said Wotshela, when referring to the students who signed the leases.
Emergency placements were made at Solaris Crest in February 2024, as Stellenbosch University (SU) indicated that the students did not have a place to sleep, Tersia Bugan, management at Prestige Student Accommodation (PSA), the placement agency through which students applied for accommodation at Solaris Crest, told SMF News. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
Because Solaris Crest is based within a metropolitan area, they assumed that SU NSFAS students would be receiving R50 000 per annum, and therefore set the initial rent at R5 600, and informed students that there would still be a R600 shortfall, said Robyn Cloete, a sales agent at Solaris Crest.
However Solaris Crest was then informed that because Stellenbosch University is not considered to be within a metropolitan area, SU NSFAS students would not be receiving R50 000 per annum. Solaris crest decided to drop the rent from R5 600 to R5 000 for SU NSFAS students, Cloete told SMF News.
Nonetheless, students are still required to pay R900 that is not covered by NSFAS, according to Wotshela.
The accredited accommodation list
Solaris Crest applied for accreditation via Stellenbosch University (SU) online in January 2024, and indicated that rent would be R45 000 per annum, according to director of Applications, Student Accommodation and Client Services at SU, Dr Celeste Nel. The amount was based on the 2023 NSFAS accommodation allowance, Nel told SMF News.
After a site visit and a confirmation of the terms a second time Solaris Crest was accredited and added to the accommodation list, said Nel.
Solaris Crest applied for accreditation via Stellenbosch University (SU) online, indicating that rent would be R45 000 per annum, an amount based on the 2023 NAFAS accommodation allowance, said director of Applications, Students’ Accommodation and Client Services at SU, Celeste Nel. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
Desperate for accommodation
“The whole R900 gap is something I really can’t afford,” said Asemahle Mbebe, a first year student at SU. Mbebe explained to SMF News that she would be required to take money from her R1 600 monthly NSFAS allowance to fill the gap, leaving her with R700 a month for food and other items.
NSFAS has not released the students’ rent allowance, and thus NSFAS students at Solaris Crest have not been required to pay rent yet, according to Mbebe.