Whilst the Free State provincial government, led by Premier Sisi Ntombela, has decided to do away with this part of the bursary scheme to save costs to the public purse, the rest of the programme remains the same with respect to funding studies locally. 

Free State Finance MEC, Gadija Brown, weighed in on the matter in her 2021/22 adjustment budget tabled on Friday in the Fourth Raadsaal in Bloemfontein. She explained where they had managed to shave off money from the programme, reprioritising those saved funds.

“An amount of R51,4 million is reprioritised from the provincial bursary programme as a result of savings from the international bursary programme as some of those international students concluded their studies. 

"The provincial government will continue to award local bursaries to the top 100 matriculants during the new financial year,” explains Brown. 

She has also allayed concerns for students who are already abroad, adding that those who are in the middle of their studies will continue to be funded by the state until they graduate.

READ: Some beneficiaries of FS premier bursary yet to get funding

In August 2021, OFM News reported on beneficiaries of the provincial bursary scheme - mainly studying at the Central University of Technology (CUT) – who accused the Premier's office of delaying to release funds towards their studies, and in essence, this forced some students to drop out, or squat with friends, amongst others. 

However, the premier’s spokesperson, Sello Pietersen, said they had made contact with the Vice-Chancellor to ensure that relevant documents of affected beneficiaries were promptly processed for payments.

A student, who opted to remain anonymous, said she and over 20 other students at CUT had been gravely affected by the payment delay. The student said officials at the Office of the Premier had been giving them the run around since the commencement of the academic year in February/March 2021, and at that stage, some of the students were yet to receive these funds and found themselves in serious debt with CUT.

This was an early indicator that the provincial fiscus was burdened. There have also been numerous reports of international students in recent years, who are beneficiaries of the same scheme who have found themselves at risk of being expelled or without their allowances in foreign countries due to delays in payments by the provincial government.

OFM News