Nontobeko Chonco is in her pyjamas standing inside her rented room in Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State, staring at her electricity meter in despair as it shows she is left with nine units.
The 22-year-old third year bachelor of education student at the University of Free State’s QwaQwa campus cannot afford to buy a R100 electricity coupon because she has not received her R1,500 allowance from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for March and April.
She is one of hundreds of students from the campus who have been struggling to make ends meet due to delays in the payment of the money which pays for their meals and other personal needs.
Chonco said she has been surviving on pap and eggs for the past month. She lives in rented off-campus student accommodation. She said she has missed several classes in the past month due to not having taxi fare to reach the campus.
A rice and popcorn dish that some of the student are forced to eat.
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“A lot of my classes are face-to-face interaction. Last month I missed about four classes because I did not have money to catch a taxi. I am lucky I did not miss any tests. I am worried that I have fallen behind with the workload and might fail,” said Chonco.
“Where I was able to go attend class on campus but because I was hungry I could not focus. One minute I will be listening to the lecturer the next I will be thinking about where will I get food to eat after class.”
Students at the UFS QwaQwa campus have embarked on protest action over the nonpayment of meal allowances. On Tuesday the university suspended all face-to-face classes after a library, laboratory and a clinic on campus were torched allegedly by a group of protesting students.
A 26-year-old male student has since been arrested.
Without her allowance, Chonco has been unable to buy meat, vegetables, electricity and toiletries. Some students said they could only eat rice mixed with popcorn.
“I have to go to my other housemates to get food. When they cook I would also go and eat with them. What is happening is painful. I have not been able to do anything. I cannot ask anyone at home to assist me because they do not have money,” said Chonco.
Chonco is from Escourt in KwaZulu-Natal, 170km from Phuthaditjhaba, where her family consists of her mother, 46, grandmother, 80, and twin siblings aged seven. Her mother is unemployed. The family survives on her grandmother’s old age grant of R1,980.
“I am left with one year and a half to complete my degree. My family is depending on me,” said Chonco, the first person in her family to go to university.
Nkululeko Mosia, 22, also an education student, said she is embarrassed at having to beg for food from her friends.
“I am disgusted. I am always tired and sleeping. I cannot study for longer hours. Normally I would study for two to three hours but because I do not have enough to eat I am struggling to study longer. I am only left with salt now. I have been eating at my friend’s place. We would eat pap and canned food,” said Mosia.
Nqobile Mnyandu, 20, who is a first year bachelor of arts student in an extended curriculum programme, said: “You need energy to go to face-to-face classes. How will we get that energy without food to eat? I have not been able to attend some of my online classes because I have not been able to buy data. I have to rely on classmates for notes.”
Sphamandla Mthembu, the deputy president of the student representative council, said in January they asked the campus social welfare office to provide food parcels for students in need.
“When the number of beneficiaries grew, the office could no longer keep up and food parcels were only given to students who were not funded by NSFAS. We have since reached out to stores such as Spar, Boxer and Shoprite to see how they can assist the students because these supermarkets assisted us in January during the registration period,” Mthembu said.
NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo said the scheme would start processing payments to institutions and paying student allowances from Friday (Friday).
Outside the QwaQwa campus, the situation remained calm with heightened security and police patrols.
A few students residing off campus were turned away by security officials who told them they were not allowed to enter the vicinity.