NSFAS runs a separate desk for anything about money owed or paid, and it is not the general student line. If your question is about a balance, a payment or a repayment, use the collections route below rather than the general one.
Account, payment and balance enquiries
- Telephone, toll free: 08000 67327
- Email: [email protected]
That mailbox is the one NSFAS names for queries about payments and balances specifically. Quote your identity number and your NSFAS reference in the first line, because those are what the desk searches on.
The general NSFAS channels
- Toll free: 08000 67327
- General and student enquiries: [email protected]
- WhatsApp: +27 63 093 5671
- USSD: dial *120*67327#
- Head office: The Halyard, 4 Christiaan Barnard Street, Cape Town City Centre, 8001
The USSD code is the underrated one. It works on any handset without data, which matters when the alternative is a toll-free queue, and it is the same 67327 that spells NSFAS on a keypad.
NSFAS funding is credit, and that changes things
NSFAS states on its own site that it is a registered credit provider under the National Credit Act 34 of 2005, registration NCRP 2655. Some NSFAS funding converts to a loan and becomes repayable, which is why there is a collections desk at all and why loan repayments have their own section on the site.
The practical consequence: an unpaid NSFAS balance behaves like other credit. Deal with it rather than ignoring it, ask for a statement in writing, and ask what portion is a bursary and what portion is a loan, because those are treated differently.
Sending legal documents
There is a rule here that catches people out. NSFAS says legal documentation must be submitted through its dedicated mailbox, [email protected], and that legal documentation not submitted and logged through that mailbox will be deemed invalid and will not receive timeous attention. So serving papers or sending a letter of demand to any other NSFAS address does not count.
The other routes
- Ethics and fraud, to report corruption you identified or witnessed: [email protected]
- Outreach and community event invitations: [email protected]
- Media enquiries: [email protected]
The speakup mailbox matters more than it looks. Payments made to students through unauthorised intermediaries, and people charging students to secure NSFAS funding, are a recurring problem. NSFAS funding is applied for free through myNSFAS, and nobody can secure it for you for a fee.
Protecting your myNSFAS account
Your NSFAS account is tied to your identity number and your cellphone number, which is exactly why account takeovers happen through SIM swaps and through students sharing one-time PINs. Never give an OTP to anyone, including someone claiming to be from NSFAS, and update your cellphone number on the account yourself if it changes rather than letting anybody do it for you.