Johnathan Paoli
Higher Education and Training deputy minister Mimmy Gondwe has praised the latest recovery of irregular payments to the value of R112 million from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).Â
Gondwe said on Friday that the recovery of the money followed a commitment made by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) last week that it would take a firm stance in addressing the systemic governance issues plaguing the scheme.
“We commend the SIU for taking active steps to claw back irregular payments and send a clear message that abuse of the student funding system will not be tolerated,” she said.
A total of 421 students from across five universities and four Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, who did not qualify for funding, have signed acknowledgment of debt agreements to pay back the irregularly awarded money.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the total value of the debt acknowledged amounted to R112 174 825.
“In addition to the AoDs, the SIU has made progress in recovering unallocated funds with the University of Fort Hare being the latest university to pay back unallocated funds of R277 666 450,” Kganyago said.
Kganyago said the SIU was grateful for the cooperative attitude of parents and unqualified NSFAS beneficiaries who agreed to repay the money over time, and urged other unqualified NSFAS beneficiaries who have not been in contact with the unit to come forward and arrange repayment.
An investigation by the unit revealed that the student funding scheme had failed to design and implement controls to ensure that there is an annual reconciliation between the funds disbursed to institutions of higher learning and the allocation of those funds to the students.
NSFAS has appointed a service provider to assist in performing the reconciliation via a “close-out reporting” process which is currently ongoing.
“The SIU is empowered to institute a civil action in the High Court or a Special Tribunal in its name, to correct any wrongdoing uncovered during both investigations caused by acts of corruption, fraud or maladministration,” Kganyago said.
Minister Gondwe said the R112 million paid out, potentially robbed 1 700 deserving students who could have been funded for at least one academic year.
“In a sense, there are many victims who may have dropped out or deferred their studies because they could not afford to pay the requisite academic fees. Every rand that is spent on an undeserving beneficiary robs a deserving one,” she said.
Gondwe said the department will accelerate its efforts to fix NSFAS and take the institutions out of administration and ensure that only deserving students are provided with the financial support that they require.
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