Masike says many students remain in limbo as they wait for feedback on their National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) applications as registration deadlines are fast approaching.

Masike says these challenges continue to work against underprivileged students who have to bear the brunt of systemic inequality, which affects their access to tertiary education.

“On a yearly basis, our students are facing historic debt and we still fail to understand why that is. Why must our students pay historic debt while they were funded by NSFAS, and I can tell you, many of these systematic challenges are excluding our students daily. We are saying that we’re going to go to the picket lines. We’ve also demanded free registration for 2025 because we fail to understand why students must pay these fees. I mean, we fought for free education in this country. We said that education must be free.”

--SABC--