This is my story and plea, I just completed my BA Law last year and had applied and got accepted by the NWU to complete my LLB (2 years). I stay with my mother and three siblings, two of which are SASSA recipients. My mother does not work, she sells fatcooks and sometimes home cleaning detergents to add to the grant money to put food on the table.

I am not a bad a achiever, I have never been. I have been working hard throughout my varsity years and have managed to form part of the Golden Key students for three consecutive years( though I did not register for it because I didn't have the money to). I know my course is a postgraduate or a second degree but it does not enable me to meet the requirements to apply for a NRF. The minister said we should apply for the NRF but the NRF only funds Honors, Masters and Doctoral degrees (according to the NRF funding policy of 2021). Thus leaving us without any means of funding.

I am really concerned about my studies as I received a message from NWU that NSFAS will not be funding me ( because it does not fund second degrees anymore). The institution is threatening to deregister us as it will not be extending its registration any further than nextweek. There are no bursaries open for us to apply for, every bursaries is open for next year's funding. I cannot afford my fees. It is really hard, I do not know what to do. On the other hand, I cannot let this academic year go to waste. Therefore, I am writing this to plead with the minister to please allow NSFAS to fund our LLB degrees this year, then next year we'll apply for other bursaries to see if we can be funded. The announcement made by the minister was of such a short notice that we did not have time to plan for this year or even apply for bursaries. I am earnestly pleading with the minister to fund our degrees for at least this year, earnestly.

I would really appreciate if he receives my plea with mercy and thus respond positively to it.