Blade Nzimande, minister of higher education and training, has issued a warning that students who are discovered to have improperly benefited from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will be prosecuted.
The minister was speaking on Friday in Pretoria as he delivered an update on NSFAS funding for the 2022 academic year.
He further stated that in order to find students whose applications were accepted despite not being eligible, his department and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) will be working collaboratively. Nzimande went on to say that the government cannot, under any circumstances, permit the misuse of NSFAS funds.
"Those who are abusing it must be nailed because they are actually stealing from the poor."
Additionally, Nzimande used the example of "a tremendously successful senior officer in government" whose children are beneficiaries of NSFAS and asked, "How come?"
He added that the work done by both NSFAS and the department of higher education and training to ensure that 2022 NSFAS eligibility requirements and terms of the financial aid are authorised, published, and followed is one of the fundamental guiding principles in the processing of the funding for all eligible students.
