The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) will not retract its report implicating Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade Nzimande and National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson Ernest Khosa in corruption. This comes despite demands for retraction and threats of legal action.
In January 2024, OUTA released an investigative report which suggested that the minister and NSFAS chairperson received kickbacks. These kickbacks are related to the awarding of a lucrative tender to facilitate the Direct NSFAS allowance payment system.
The claims made in OUTA’s report have been denied by the Higher Education Minister Nzimande and Khosa. However, Khosa decided to voluntarily take a 30-day leave of absence to allow NSFAS to investigate the claims levelled against him.
OUTA has since received a letter on 2 February 2024 from Khosa's legal representative, demanding the retraction of the report and its removal from OUTA's platform.
Khosa's representatives argue that he was not allowed to respond to the report's findings, claiming a violation of his dignity and fundamental principles of fairness.
However, OUTA's Executive Director, Advocate Stefanie Fick, says that as a civil activist organisation, they are not obligated to approach implicated parties before publishing such reports. She emphasises the evidence-backed nature of their findings and the matter's strong public interest.
We scrutinised the recorded conversations between Khosa and individuals closely linked to Coinvest Africa (Pty) Ltd, a service provider contracted by NSFAS for the direct payments of allowances to NSFAS. Then we drafted a report, which we used to lay a complaint with law enforcement and other oversight bodies
Regarding Khosa's demand to refrain from further dissemination of the report, Fick adds that OUTA cannot comply with Khosa's demand to refrain from further dissemination of the report as the report is part of a criminal complaint with law enforcement agencies.
This as Khosa demanded OUTA refrain from presenting the report as facts on any platform, including mainstream media and social media. However, OUTA is open to meeting Khosa to evaluate additional evidence, with the understanding that all information will be shared with law enforcement due to ongoing investigations.
In response to Khosa's threat of legal action, Fick expresses OUTA's readiness to defend against any claims, though they contest the basis for such action.
