Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has so far recovered R737 926 351 from higher education institutions as part of an inquiry into the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
In a statement released on Wednesday, the SIU said the figure included R688 220 611.56 in unallocated funds and signed acknowledgement of debt agreements of R49 705 739.60.
The SIU said the recovery process was “quick”, because the institutions had cooperated.
“The unallocated funds are due to poor control systems and a lack of reconciliation processes by NSFAS and were not collected from institutions of higher learning,” said SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.
NSFAS said it is awaiting the payment of the recovered funds from the investigating unit to begin the process of settling its historical debt obligations to institutions.
“SIU has not provided NSFAS with complete information on the recovered fees thus impacting on NSFAS accounting and business processes. During a recent engagement with SIU, it was agreed that going forward, NSFAS will be provided with relevant and complete information monthly,” said the scheme in a statement.
The SIU presented the findings to parliament’s standing committee on public accounts on Wednesday to give an update on investigations into the NSFAS payment system.
The investigation found that the financial aid scheme failed to design and implement measures to ensure a settlement between the funds paid to the institutions and the allocation of those funds to the students.
“These control weaknesses have led to overpayments and underpayments of funds to the different institutions over the period 2017 to date,” Kganyago said.
To mitigate this, NSFAS said it has appointed a company to assist in improving reconciliation through a process called “close-out reporting”. The reconciliation process is still ongoing.
The SIU, in terms of Proclamation R88 of 2022, was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in NSFAS and to “recover any financial losses suffered by the State through corruption and negligence”.
Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has approved the 2024 NSFAS Eligibility Criteria and Conditions for financial aid.
The criteria applies to students at public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges with slight amendments to the previous year’s policies.
According to the criteria issued by the higher education department, as of 2024, continuing and first-time university students must achieve a credit pass rate of 50% to be eligible for funding.
To close the gap between college and university students, the NSFAS living allowance will be R10 000 for TVETs and R16 500 for universities a year, which will be distributed monthly. This week, NSFAS will meet the South African Union of Students to discuss payment methods for the 2024 academic year.