Graduates welcome EFF proposal of Bill aimed at settling student university debt

On 25 February 2025, Economic Freedom Fighters member of Parliament and former party Student Command president Sihle Lonzi proposed a Student Debt Relief Bill to ease the financial burden on students.

Gazetted for public comment, the Bill aims to tackle the payment of university debts, a move widely welcomed by graduates struggling with outstanding fees.

Economic Freedom Fighters member of Parliament and former party Student Command president Sihle Lonzi. (Photo: Gallo Images / Papi Morake)

Student Debt Relief Bill

The Bill seeks to create a Student Debt Relief Fund. In terms of the draft Bill, students may apply to the fund to have their university debt paid off if they pass their academics, allowing them to graduate or receive their qualifications.

Daily Maverick spoke to Lonzi, who outlined how he and the EFF began to construct the Bill and why it was needed.

“We wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly on 26 November 2024 to inform her of our intention to introduce a student debt cancellation Bill. We then did a back and forth with Parliament for about three months or so because they wanted to test its legality, constitutionality … and the one main thing is to clear student debt. The argument we make is that a lot of these debts are not only bad and irrecoverable debts, but they delay … professional careers.

“How are these people going to get jobs if you don’t give them the qualifications so that they will be able to get work, get an income, and then work out some form of payment plan with the institution… We don’t understand why President Cyril Ramaphosa, together with the Minister of Higher Education and Training Nobuhle Pamela Nkabane, can’t just sit down and instruct these institutions to say, release all degrees and certificates now,” said Lonzi

Daily Maverick asked Lonzi where the finances would come from to pay student debt. He said monies recovered by the Special Investigating Unit and Auditor-General could be used.

“In the previous financial year, there’s about R13.8-billion which was irregularly spent. The National Skills Fund spent R3.8-billion. Then we got the shock of our lives when we found out that even the National Student Financial Aid Scheme has … hidden reserves of R4.4-billion. Now, the amount we are looking at is roughly R17-billion to resolve the immediate problems of student historical debt in South Africa… The money is definitely there, we just need a much more competent and efficient state when it comes to public spending and public financing,” said Lonzi.

Read more: As NSFAS finally submits its 2022/23 annual report, AG flags R60bn in irregular spending over four years

Chairperson of the parliamentary higher education and training committee Walter Letsie. (Photo: Gallo Images / Die Burger / Jaco Marais)

Meanwhile, chairperson of the parliamentary higher education and training committee Walter Letsie told Daily Maverick that it was too soon to introduce the Bill. First, there had to be a study to examine how many graduates were still alive so that money was not wasted on paying for people who had died.

Letsie said, however, that many former students’ debt needed to be written off. Some had owed university fees for more than 10 years. “There is no prospect of [those people] paying back, so [their debt] must be cancelled,” said Letsie.

Graduates welcome proposed Bill.

Daily Maverick spoke to graduates from Nelson Mandela University and Cape Peninsula University of Technology who welcomed the proposed Bill.

Kamogelo Kwadi, a Nelson Mandela University graduate, said the Bill would assist students and resolve unemployment issues. Kwadi completed his marine engineering degree in 2024, but the university was withholding his certificate.

“Finding employment has been very challenging due to the competitive nature of cadetship programmes, which are important for gaining practical sea experience. My certificate is withheld by the university – this is due to my student account having outstanding debt, which also delays employment opportunities,” said Kwadi.

Akhona Ntotho, a 2021 Cape Peninsula University of Technology digital media graduate, who is pursuing a journalism degree, said the logic behind institutions withholding degrees over debt made no sense.

Student protests against university fee policies at UCT. (Photo: Ernst Calitz)

“The Student Debt Relief Bill will actually play a huge role because we’ll be able to get our certificates, use the same certificates to try and find employment, then come back and pay back the institution. I really wish that, you know. The government could intervene and assist the students or implement that the universities hand out those qualifications to students,” said Ntotho.

Meanwhile, an NMU graduate in fashion design who wanted to remain anonymous told Daily Maverick that she had not received her certificate because of debt.

“I didn’t graduate because of the debt I owe the institution. I’ve been unemployed for two years and my certificate is held by the university for owing the institution … I think that the Bill will work in favour of some of us because we don’t come from rich families and at the moment I am staying at home, unemployed. It’s so painful because I have a qualification,” said the student.

The graduate unemployment rate was at 11.8%, according to 2024 first-quarter statistics. A student-led protest movement over penalties for unpaid fees began in mid-October 2015.

Read more: #FeesMustFall: Tear gas, rubber bullets and batons – insiders’ perspective

A 2024 article by the University of Cape Town’s Lea Leathern said more than half a million students were indebted to universities. According to the article:

• Wits University: Students at Wits owed a total of R3.5-billion, with 4,557 students unable to graduate due to debt totalling R298-million.


• University of Pretoria (UP): According to University of Pretoria’s Director of Institutional Advancement, Rikus Delport, as of 31 December 2024, the university had about R364-million outstanding from 11,062 students in legal collections. It is holding 1,327 degrees until debts are settled.


• University of Johannesburg (UJ): UJ had about 33,000 students with unpaid debt, with 14,537 still registered and 18,796 unregistered.


• University of Cape Town (UCT): UCT had 2,717 students with debt totalling R128-million, resulting in 332 students rendered unable to graduate or receive certificates until their debts were cleared.

Daily Maverick spoke to Clotilde Angelucci, communication and network lead at Youth Capital, who said the Bill could unlock opportunities for graduates.

“Without a certification to show, young people are unable to enter the labour market in the sector of their studies – with our economy growing at a rate of 0.6% in 2023 and 0.7% in 2024, debt relief could unlock the economic potential of young South Africans. The Bill has the potential to promote young people’s economic inclusion by removing barriers to the labour market,” said Angelucci.

Interested parties and institutions have been invited to submit written representations on the proposed content of the draft Bill to the Speaker of the National Assembly within 30 days of the publication of the notice on 28 February 2025 by mailing to Speaker, PO Box 15, Cape Town, 8000, or emailed to [email protected] and copied to [email protected]. DM

This story was updated on 26 March at 7.20pm.