eZaga is a new payment system that distributes NSFAS Allowances to university students, particularly those at the University of the Free State. Previously, these funds were paid to students by the institution. However, NSFAS officials woke up one day and changed the distribution of these allowances to independent financial agencies, claiming they wanted the money to go directly to students. It was a harsh and impulsive decision for students because they were not consulted to have their two cents opinion on this matter.
Social media buzz over eZaga.
Students are crying again over an NSFAS payment system, eZaga, which is used to distribute funds to tertiary students; by the buzz on social media, most students from institutions of higher learning are experiencing the same thing. Students complain about the late payments of their allowances, the unreasonable deductions through bank charges, swipe charges, and eZaga charges; it is worse. Students get charged at least R50 per withdrawal and R30 per purchase; how wild is that? Not even a premium South African Bank charges that much. The delays to allowances are caused by eZaga capturing wrong branch codes; some complain about registration errors. As we now know, eZaga is the master of lousy admin; indeed, they capture students' ID numbers incorrectly; hence, when they login to their app, it says ''ID not found.'' How is that possible when a student is registered and funded?
eZaga system is indigent; it cannot handle thousands of students, which is proven every first week of the month. However, the question is: Who authorized this? Was eZaga even tested before being given this responsibility? Because they failed from the onset. eZaga should have started distributing R350 grants for a region with fewer grant beneficiaries to test if they are capable; starting with universities was a big move for them because it was their first time. All of this could have been avoided, but with our government imposing things on us, we are headed for a massive disaster.
What puzzles students more about eZaga is that they cannot even explain their system to them; they cannot help with anything, even on campus. They seem clueless and useless to them, but where will they get assistance if eZaga agents cannot help? Because even in emails, they never respond. Their communication is poor even when they communicate. Some students did not even know that they would now use eZaga because no one communicated this to them before the shift; it was a matter of meeting someone who had heard something and shared that information with you. In this case, it is possible to say that eZaga is a ghost because no one knows who these eZaga people are, where their offices are, and what their track record is.
Are NSFAS officials different from the apartheid government, who never consulted the masses? Dictatorship government of the time. In my opinion, they operate the same. After all, in a democratic and new participatory leadership, students should have a say in decisions that concern them because these people lead behind the desk and do not know the experiences of students. Hence, they should be consulted before any decision is taken to avoid the persistence of chaos and pain.
eZaga failed from the onset, and students have been crying about this agency, but no one is willing to hear their cries. Instead, they are being forced to use these cards. Students get minimal amounts for it to be deducted. In 2023, many students complained about eZaga deducting from R50 to R300 when they withdrew their money. Their cries were not validated as eZaga agents are nowhere to be found on campus. They have to call to get assistance; even those calls will take an hour to be picked up, and sending an email is a nightmare; they will never get any response.
Division amongst students
This causes a divide between students on campus and clearly highlights student inequalities. There are now affected students and unaffected students. The unaffected students will continue attending classes and going to the bridge for lunch while others sing outside; we can term this in Zulu ‘’Kuya Ngokuthi ungubani, uhamba nabantu abanjani." In this context, this would mean that ''it depends on who you are and where you come from''; it screams inequalities, the fruits of the apartheid system. Will there ever be a united Africa, a rainbow nation? Only when we confront the elephant in the room.
The most affected are black students; what does this say about us being equal? Where is the free education promised to students, or is it the fruits of it? Does the right to access primary and tertiary education Section 29 mean suffering until students graduate? There are so many questions, but will they ever be addressed? Hopefully, one day.
The fact that NSFAS funds students means they come from poor backgrounds; what are they expected to eat while eZaga runs away each time allowances are paid, especially when there are problems? What kind of leaders go hiding when they encounter problems? In this country with a leadership crisis, they add to the bleeding wound. Come to think of it, had these NSFAS students' parents had the opportunity to get an education or enjoy the fruits of their fertile land, their children would not be suffering due to the ignorant and selfish government.
Students voices
Strydoom and Loots (2020) concur that students' voices contribute to quality education. They argue that students voices as evaluators of their education experiences are similar to a business and customer, the business being the university and the student a customer; students' complaints are taken as customer complaints in a business, the way the university will be aware of their mistake and take their views to counteract the issues. They add that students should be regarded as partners, co-creators, and experts; this promotes engagement in issues affecting them, knowing that their voices will be heard and inputs valued. If NSFAS officials adopted this approach as Higher Education plans, issues concerning delays to allowances would be minimised because students are on the ground experiencing everything.
Undergraduate Students’ view on democracy, leadership, and communication.
A few students I had a discussion with commented and said: ‘’We feel disrespected, not seen, heard and valued by our government because they should have consulted us on decisions that concern us; eZaga was imposed on us because we were not aware, and had we were consulted, we would have disagreed because FUNDI was treating us well, and very competent’’. NSFAS claimed that the shift to eZaga was to distribute allowances directly to students. However, students feel that this is a lie because the previous payment entity, FUNDI, was a direct payment to students, and they never experienced any charges with FUNDI; their excuse is flimsy and unjustifiable. Students concluded that this system is no different from the apartheid system, where our forefathers were given instructions to follow and made decisions.
Suggestions from the affected undergraduate students:
Students suggest that eZaga should have an information session to explain who they are, what they want to achieve, and how they will best assist them. They should also take their suggestions for things that they experience with their services for them to improve.
According to students, NSFAS must work with the previous entity, FUNDI, because of its reputable brand and competency. They also suggest that it would be better if eZaga had offices on campus to assist students with their queries and distribute pamphlets on campus on the steps from registration to money withdrawal. Again, they propose that eZaga have its ATM on each campus. They concluded that eZaga must work with South African Banks and distribute money through these banks as FUNDI does to avoid the massive charges and students not getting their total allowances due to technical glitches.
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