Walter Sisulu University’s convocation has raised concerns that student debt, recurring since 2013 at the rural Eastern Cape university, has risen from R1.4bn in 2022 to R1.9bn in 2024.
As a result, it is now leading creative fundraising initiatives to assist those in need of certificates, including hosting a fun run in October.
WSU convocation spokesperson Azola Mzwendaba said the fundraising campaign was aimed at raising awareness of the growing graduate debt problem at WSU and to attract potential donors to assist in resolving the issue.
The first fundraising initiatives would be a held on October 19, where the convocation will host a marathon and fun run for the East London community at the university’s Potsdam campus.
Up for grabs will be medals and T-shirts for the first 200 finishers, with entries for a 1.6km fun run at R20, 4km at R50, and R200 for the 21.1km half marathon.
Mzwendaba said the convocation members were elected “to champion the interests of graduates”, and as such would make it their priority to raise enough funds to assists students in need.
“The current graduate student debt is mostly from 2013 up until now,” he said.
He could not provide the exact number of graduates who had debt, as the numbers varied, with some paying off their debt or getting sponsors to do so.
“What led to the creative idea to generate funds was that our graduates are finding it difficult to fully compete in the already competitive labour market.
“The exact total number of graduates affected I cannot answer now, because I will then have to check with the university system because they keep shrinking daily because some get money to pay on their own, some lucky ones get sponsors, so daily they vary, but the amount sits at about R1.9bn,” he said.
Mzwendaba said there were many contributing factors to the rising debt owed by students “but most importantly is NSFAS’s inefficient administration”.
“NSFAS not having enough capacity to absorb all registered students is a challenge.
“Also, there is a challenge of a number of students who at times perform not as per the expectations of sponsors, though we understand some social factors of that,” he said.
“We will be fundraising for that amount and more, to make sure all graduates get their certificates to go look for jobs.
“There is no ideal amount perceived as the debts keep rising every year.
“But we are fundraising to ensure we get that R1.9bn and more for everyone to be cleared.”
Thus far, more than R85m had been raised and had paid for more than 675 graduates.
The convocation has also engaged Setas and the premier’s office, which both cleared the debt of more than 1,500 graduates.
“We launched a graduate students’ debt campaign and opened a crowd pull account where everyone is encouraged to make the smallest contribution.
“What led to the creative idea to generate funds was that our graduates are finding it difficult to fully compete in the already competitive labour market.
“It’s even worse when you apply with no certificate, so we made it our goal number one to fundraise for them as well as to engage all university stakeholders, government and the private sector to urgently look into the issue as soon as possible,” he said.
Dr Lunga Mantashe, the convocation’s president, said the half-marathon initiative represented more than just a race, “it symbolises commitment to the future of WSU graduates”.
“As a convocation, we believe in empowering our students not only through education but by standing with them when they face financial challenges.
“By raising awareness and funds for graduate debt relief, we are contributing to their success and the betterment of our university community,” he said.
Mantashe said the funds raised would go directly towards helping WSU graduates who were unable to repay their debt due to various challenges, including top-slicing and loss of funding from NSFAS.
University spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo could not respond to sent questions at the time of writing on Friday, saying: “I’ve requested the CFO [to supply] the figures you require. It might take some time to get back to you.”
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