The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) confirmed on 11 August 2026 that its annual spend on student accommodation has reached approximately R18 billion, exceeding what the scheme spends on tuition, according to an official NSFAS media statement. The figure emerged ahead of a parliamentary colloquium on 28 August 2026, where Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela and NSFAS officials defended an accommodation funding cap that critics say leaves students unable to cover rent shortfalls.
NSFAS chief financial officer Waseem Carrim told Parliament that the scheme was now spending more on accommodation than on tuition. “Where, of course, this creates quite a bit of challenge is that those costs are now being passed down to the students,” Carrim said during the colloquium, as reported by EWN.
The current annual NSFAS cap for non-catered private accommodation in metros is R52,000, while the cap sits at roughly R43,000 elsewhere, according to reporting by GroundUp on 29 August 2026. GroundUp also reported that NSFAS senior manager Heena Valjee told the colloquium that accommodation funding had grown by 50% between 2023 and 2026, and that 39% of responding residences were assessed as being in poor condition.
Manamela told Parliament the cap was introduced to rein in escalating costs. “The accommodation cap was introduced because public money could not become an open cheque,” he said. ANC MP Tebogo Letsie added that the gap between accommodation spending and available funding was widening, telling SABC News: “The gap continues to grow because basically on student accommodation, NSFAS pays about R17 billion to student accommodation, which is extremely expensive.”
For students on the Cape Flats and across Cape Town’s metro areas, the R52,000 cap has become a flashpoint. Private accommodation providers in areas near the University of the Western Cape, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and other institutions frequently charge rents above the cap, leaving NSFAS-funded students to find the difference or face eviction. NSFAS said in its 11 August statement that it would refer high accommodation costs to the Competition Commission, signalling that the scheme believes market dynamics may be driving inflated prices.
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education chairperson urged student leaders to fight for transparency and fairness in accommodation pricing rather than defending high costs, according to a Parliament media statement. Phethiwe Matutu, representing higher education stakeholders, told the colloquium: “It is important that at a national level, we come to an agreement that promises cannot be carried out.”
Government figures show NSFAS made more than R1.1 billion in accommodation payments in a single quarter in 2026, benefiting over 100,000 students. As of February 2026, the scheme had received 194,071 accommodation applications, with 55,653 approved and 53,864 awaiting landlord approval, according to a government statement dated 5 February 2026.
What remains unconfirmed is the precise breakdown of accommodation spending between universities and TVET colleges, with one report citing R19 billion for university housing and R3.5 billion for TVET accommodation — figures not independently verified by multiple sources. Allegations about middleman companies receiving large payments also remain unverified. Cape Flats will check with NSFAS and the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education for updated figures ahead of the next parliamentary sitting, expected in September 2026.