Refilwe Mabe
Due to student complaints at the beginning of the year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) eradicated the sBux voucher system for payment of student allowances.
This meant students received their food and book allowance through their student cards. Students will now receive their allowance into their personal bank accounts.
NSFAS mentioned on their website that the eradication of the old systems was to allow students to be able to explore their options when shopping for groceries and stationery.
According to the sources, however, even though these changes have been done to change the lives of the students for better but they came with lots of consequences.
A source with direct knowledge of the effects of the cash system on bookshops, who did not want to be mentioned because she did not get permission to speak to the media, said that the new system came with bad consequences for bookshops around the area.
"Half of the books that were normally sold out by the beginning of March, were not sold," she said. She also mentioned that the results may not be harsh for big stores but will defintely be harsh for private bookshops as they do not have any other support.
The owner of Way Forward bookstore in Potchefstroom, Thomas Jacob, does not feel that the eradication of voucher system by NSFAS was a good move. He believes it will adversely affect bookshops since the bookshops are not selling any books.
"No one is buying books because students are paying everything else from alcohol to clothes with the money," he said. The drop in sales might force him to close some of his offices. The company is only surviving because they have tenders with libraries around South Africa.
A source at another bookshop mentioned that the students were not buying any books and that the company was not making any profit. She said that they have come up with ideas to try and get them to buy books but it did not make any difference. The store has tried cutting down prices and even putting some of the books on promotions.
She mentioned that people might not see it, but something like this does not only affect the bookstores, it affects publishing companies and authors too. She also added that the company will not be employing people anymore and might even be forced to let some people go.
Koketso Mazibuko, who is a third year NSFAS recipient thinks the cash system was a good move by the government. "It allows us to explore our options when buying groceries and stationery, something which has always been a limitation with the voucher system.
"Even though this was a good initiative, students will always be students. Others use the money meant for stationery and books to buy items such as alcohol and phones. Some students are now stranded and sit in classes without books that are necessary," she added.
All these bookstores are scared of what the future holds for them. They are not even sure if they should should order books for second semester or not.
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