AfriForum Youth demands answers from UFS regarding allowances and violent protests

AfriForum Youth today directed a letter to the rector of the University of the Free State demanding answers regarding the huge amount that was paid as allowances to students. The organisation also wants answers about the arson, that took place after the violent protests, that caused an estimated R35 million’s damage to the QwaQwa campus.

This arson is part of the uproar that students have caused because of their objections about the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)’s April pay-outs. In the letter to Prof. Francis Petersen the organisation asked what disciplinary action will be taken against the suspected arsonists, as well as what measures have been put in place to prevent the further disruption of education.

Meanwhile, the UFS has already spent more than R71 million on grants to help these students while they wait for their NSFAS subsidies to pay out. AfriForum Youth finds it regrettable that NSFAS withholds the necessary funds from students in need and asks that the UFS take legal action to ensure that NSFAS will repay the money to the UFS so that the university can use the R71 million for the purposes it was earmarked for.

“This amount is now used to help only a handful of students while it was supposed to be used for the benefit of the university and all of its students. The university must fulfill its academic responsibilities towards all students and they must ensure that the handful of rioters do not disrupt the entire campus’ academic activities,” says René van der Vyver, spokesperson for AfriForum Youth.