The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has warned that a student accommodation "mafia" is threatening to destabilise the entire higher education sector.
The NSFAS chairperson, Ernest Khosa, told Parliament's finance watchdog, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), that organised groups were operating in the student accommodation sector, colluding with service providers to defraud the system.
Khosa was briefing Scopa on the Special Investigating Unit's (SIU) investigations into student funding and fraud at NSFAS. The SIU also revealed that the NSFAS had paid over R5 billion in bursaries to 40,000 unqualified students.
The student financial aid scheme is not only facing a financial threat but also a security threat from a "mafia" that is threatening the entire sector.
Andile Nongogo, was receiving threatening messages. "We saw threatening SMSes directed at the CEO of NSFAS by people who are worried about our new accommodation policies," he said.
During a recent interview, the scheme's CEO also revealed that some of the challenges they are currently facing haven't been resolved despite their recent policy amendments. There are still students who live in unconducive conditions due to a shortage of beds.
Challenges With Implementing New NSFAS Accommodation Policies
He further pointed out that the problem is more pronounced in the rural provinces. To mitigate this, the scheme has introduced an accreditation criterion for accommodation providers as well as an annual accommodation price cap of R45 000 as part of its new policy.
The price cap was introduced to enable NSFAS to play a more active role in determining the accommodation cost for its beneficiaries. The scheme also found incidents of price fixing among institutional and private accommodation providers.
Despite the challenges facing the sector, Khosa commended the SIU for shedding light on the fraudulent activities and pledged to work with law enforcement agencies to tackle the issue. He urged students and service providers to report any suspicious activities to the relevant authorities.
