Thulani Melula, Senior Manager: System Support and Digital Development, National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)

“Our digital transformation journey is an exciting work in progress that has already benefited our students, and has great potential for the future,” says Melula. “We’re striving to be more proactive in dealing with our students, more efficient in how we communicate, offering faster response times, and connecting with students in the spaces they prefer to use.”

The new student application process has already been introduced digitally. The process is fast and efficient. Applicants who are SASSA beneficiaries are immediately provisionally funded and are informed of the decision instantly. NSFAS is looking to extend this speed and efficiency to other areas of the application assessment process by enabling real-time interaction with third parties.