Photo by: Bloomberg
Debtors who owe the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) may end up blacklisted, NSFAS chairperson Sizwe Nxasana warned on Thursday.
"People who are unwilling to pay and are earning an income, we are simply going to follow the normal debt recovery process in a way which is a lot more robust and efficient," Nxasana told journalists.
NSFAS held a media briefing to outline its funding model for the year ahead.
Nxasana told journalists they were still owed R21-billion in loans and of that they had recovered over R200-million. Half this debt came from current students, while the other half came from beneficiaries in the job market.
"All loan recipients should be made aware of the importance of repayment. Whilst there have been challenges, at this point much more vigilant and diligent action will yield positive results," he said.
Nxasana implemented a new campaign to recover debt since October last year. Through the campaign, NSFAS had collected R8.5-million from 12 000 first-time payers.
He said recovery would now be based on the salary that was earned and this would start once the salary was R30 000. This would mean a beneficiary would pay R900/y on a R30 000 salary, or R84 a month.