STAFF REPORTER |
THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has welcomed the ruling that it was not involved in the erroneous payment of R14 million into the account of Walter Sisulu University (WSU) student Sibongile Mani.
“The scheme said it welcomed the ruling which proved that it was not involved in the erroneous payment made by Intellimali, an independent service provider responsible for the disbursement of funds at WSU,” the statement reads.
This comes after Mani was found guilty and convicted of theft by the East London regional court last week.
Mani’s lawyer argued that she never intentionally tried to deprive the NSFAS of money. However, the State says she knew she was not entitled to the money – but chose to blow R820 000 in 73 days.
The payment was made into Mani’s account on June 1 2017. She allegedly spent R20,000 within two hours of receiving the payment, on items like cigarettes and alcohol.
The money was transferred by Cape Town-based company Intellimali, which was contracted by WSU to disburse funds to its students.
The then accounting student was due to receive her monthly R1 400 food allowance, but because of what was described in court as a “ridiculous and absurd technical glitch”, R14 million was credited to her account.
The NSFAS Spokesperson, Kagiso Mamabolo said that no payment of R14m was transferred into any student or university account intended for Mani by NSFAS.
“The scheme did not suffer any loss of funding due to the erroneous payment. No payment of R14m was transferred into any student or university account intended for Mani by NSFAS,” he said.
Mamabolo said the scheme authorised and paid the normal monthly R1,400 to WSU intended for Mani.
“The CEO of Intellimali confirmed that Intellimali takes full administrative and financial responsibility for the incident,” Mamabolo said.
Mani will return to court on March 8 for pre-sentencing reports.
-Inside Education
