NSFAS has welcomed the recent preliminary findings of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). The SIU revealed that NSFAS funded 40,000 ineligible students to the tune of R5-billion between 2018 and 2021. The students in question were found to have misrepresented their application information to unduly benefit from the scheme.
These are students whose household income is above R350,000 and therefore would not qualify for NSFAS funding based on the funding rules. These students did not submit their parent’s details upon application and therefore the means test was not properly conducted.
At the time, NSFAS lacked the required systems to do thorough third-party background checks on applicants. NSFAS Chairman, Khoza stated that, when the SIU investigation began, NSFAS had already started defunding this cohort of students and made efforts to recoup these funds.
While admitting that there is merit to the probe’s findings, Khoza went on to say that their main concern is mainly over the misinterpretation of the SIU’s findings, namely that this is still an ongoing issue by media outlets.
“I would like to emphasize we're concerned that an impression is being created that this problem is ongoing now if you look at the SIU report there's a very clear period that this happened from 2018 to 2021. So we're not talking about a situation,” he explained
He further stated that the bursary scheme has taken steps to strengthen its governance structures, including the appointment of a new CEO and CFO, and the implementation of a robust risk management system.
The SIU investigation and the NSFAS response emphasise the need for increased transparency and accountability in the administration of public funds. It is crucial that government agencies like NSFAS function in the public interest and are free from corruption and poor management.
