During a briefing to Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) paid billions of rands to students who were ineligible for funding.
NSFAS is concerned that the SIU’s findings are being misrepresented. While the financial aid scheme welcomed the SIU’s findings, they want to assure stakeholders that fraudulent transactions are not being processed at the financial aid scheme.
Ernest Khosa, NSFAS Board Chairperson said the SIU’s findings do not represent the current work being done at the financial aid scheme. They explained that the SIU’s findings are based on NSFAS operations before 2023.
I will say with no shadow of doubt that the magnitude of the problem that was there in those years is not there anymore.
The SIU was tasked with investigating maladministration and improper funding at NSFAS by President Cyril Ramaphosa. The scope of the SIU’s investigation in NSFAS’ operations between 2016 and August 2022.
They found that 40,000 students improperly benefitted from NSFAS, costing the financial aid scheme approximately R5 billion.
Khosa says the systems and verification checks used by NSFAS have been radically improved and several measures are now in place to prevent instances where ineligible students receive funding.
The NSFAS Board wishes to reassure all stakeholders that the current systems have eliminated the prevalence of these fraudulent activities.
NSFAS are insistent that the magnitude of fraudulent activities is not as prevalent as it was in previous years.
Slumezi Skosana, NSFAS Spokesperson said partnerships with other government departments and entities allow NSFAS to verify information submitted by students applying for funding.
Students who apply for NSFAS are required to submit several documents which prove they qualify for funding. These documents are sent by NSFAS to the Department of Home Affairs, the South African Revenue Service and other entities for verification.
To qualify for NSFAS funding, a student must be a South African citizen enrolled in an approved course at a public university or Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college and have a household income of less than R350,000. The household income threshold is R600,000 for students living with a disability.
Skosana says they will need to be sane and less litigious and punitive in their approach when investigating students who erroneously received NSFAS funding.
It is believed that students who erroneously received funding may have falsified documents and misrepresented their household income to meet the qualifying criteria for funding.
