South African Universities Withhold 165,000 Certificates as Student Debt Hits R59 Billion

Ten years after the #FeesMustFall movement forced national concessions on student funding, South Africa’s universities and TVET colleges are still withholding certificates from more than 165,000 qualified graduates due to unpaid fees, as total outstanding student debt across the sector surges to R59 billion.

The alarming figures were presented to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education this week, exposing a dysfunctional system that continues to punish graduates long after they complete their studies. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) reported 165,000 certificates withheld, while Universities South Africa (USAF) put the university-only total at 188,209. TVET colleges are holding back an additional 20,950 certificates.

The debt breakdown reveals deep structural problems: R29 billion is owed by NSFAS-funded students, R26 billion by self-funded students (including the “missing middle”), and R12 billion is already classified as irrecoverable or impaired.

Institutions of technology are among the hardest hit, with Tshwane University of Technology withholding 24,394 certificates, Durban University of Technology 23,155, and Cape Peninsula University of Technology 16,196. Several universities each carry individual student debt exceeding R3-4 billion.

Speaking on SABC earlier today, Portfolio Committee Chairperson Tebogo Letsie delivered a blunt assessment, saying universities have no credible justification for indefinitely blocking graduates from receiving their qualifications. “The statistics show that student debt is continuing to rise, which suggests that the measures put in place are not working as intended,” Letsie said. “When a student leaves an institution without a certificate, their chances of finding a job and paying off that debt become even smaller.”

The practice has created a self-reinforcing trap: graduates cannot secure formal employment or professional registration without their certificates, yet without income they cannot settle their debts. This affects thousands of young South Africans at a time when youth unemployment remains among the world’s highest.

The current crisis persists despite major increases in government funding for NSFAS, which now supports over one million students. However, chronic administrative failures, payment backlogs, reconciliation disputes between NSFAS and institutions, and inadequate provision for the “missing middle” (students from households earning R350,000 – R600,000 per year) have left large gaps in the system.

Letsie and the committee have demanded urgent action: faster reconciliation between DHET and NSFAS, clear national guidelines on certificate withholding, and the development of a sustainable long-term funding model that properly addresses the missing middle through loans or hybrid support schemes.

Some institutions have begun considering limited debt write – offs for irrecoverable amounts and partnerships with the South African Revenue Service for salary deductions once graduates are employed. There have also been proposals for mass graduations to clear historical backlogs.

As South Africa reflects on a decade since the 2015 – 2016 student protests, the withheld certificates scandal underscores how little has fundamentally changed. A generation of qualified young people remains locked out of the formal economy, deepening inequality and wasting valuable human capital while institutions struggle with mounting bad debt.