GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Hundreds of hours of education were lost to hundreds of students in the Southern Cape due to protest action at various campuses of South Cape College.
This week it seems that classes at campuses, including Oudtshoorn, are back to normal after a week-long protest. Campus principal Elsie Potgieter said classes and normal campus life were disrupted by protest action from 17 to 19 February.
However, students at the George and Oudtshoorn campuses were also seen protesting on Monday 24 February.
In her latest statement on Tuesday 25 February Potgieter said that, after a meeting with student representatives on 19 February, it was agreed that an interim payment of allowances would be done on Friday 21 February.
The cut-off date of first payments was originally on 13 February. "Students were requested to submit their outstanding documentation required for the NSFAS bursary allowances applications by 20 February.
"On Friday 21 February, the allowances of students who have met the requirements, their status was changed to 'funded' and their allowances were paid." According to Potgieter, some of these payments were still made on Monday 24 February.
Students protesting in front of South Cape College Oudtshoorn on Monday
24 February.
On Monday students at the George Campus started another protest, this time because they wanted their allowances to be paid on a daily basis, said Potgieter in her statement. This after it was agreed that a second interim payment would be made on 28 February, providing that students submit all outstanding documentation and it were verified.
"The challenge remains that the NSFAS status of bursaries 'funded' change daily, based on the verification of these bursary applications." This makes it impossible for the principal to just agree that bursary money will be paid on certain dates.
Potgieter did however confirm that payment issues were the reason for protest action at the Bitou, Beaufort West and Oudtshoorn campuses. She asked that students who still have not received bursary allowances, should regularly check their NSFAS profiles for an update.
She also urgently requested students to return to classes until the NSFAS processes are completed.
'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'
