Mismanagement, failures in meeting requirements and delays in paying student allowances are some of the reasons leading to the dissolution of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Professor Blade Nzimande has blamed the outgoing National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board for not fulfilling their administrative duties, and students failing as a result.
In a media briefing held on Sunday, April 14, Nzimande addressed the recurring problem of non-payment and student allowances that have been plaguing NSFAS. The minister responded to this by dissolving the board on April 11, 2024.
Nzimande said the outgoing NSFAS board were unable to uphold basic responsibilities, with some of these shortcomings being the “consistent inability to oversee payment of student allowances timeously,” and the scheme’s failure to respond to student queries timeously.
The outgoing board was also unable to meet the Werksman Report requirements. One of the key requirements was to terminate the contracts of four of the service providers as these tenders were handed irregularly.
Now the scheme has a new administrator, Sithembiso Freeman Nomvalo. He is the former CEO of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and has 25 years of experience under his belt, 17 split between the private and public sector. Nomvalo has also been credited for possessing “extensive knowledge and (an) impeccable track record in public finance and government processes”.
First on the agenda for Nomvalo is taking over the governance, management, and administration of NSFAS for a period of one year, which is subject to a renewal of a further 12 months depending on the progress that is made.
The new administrator will also be required to “finalize all the necessary financial decisions and outstanding payments especially those relating to student accommodation”.
Joseph Baloyi, a first-year BA Law student at Wits University and a NSFAS beneficiary does not believe that the change will have any positive effect.
He claims that he has been experiencing delays in receiving his allowances throughout the year and that private banks are the reason for the delays. He believes that the solution is for the Minister to “remove the private banks, then pay the school so that the school can pay us.”
At the briefing, Chief Operation Officer at NSFAS, Errol Makhubela, confirmed that “NSFAS has granted an extension to all universities to continue to disperse allowances to students from April to July 2024”.
The scheme advanced an upfront payment to distribute the student allowances which will commence on Monday, 15 April 2024. Makhubela said the advanced upfront payment, which covers book allowances, food allowances and travel allowances will be paid for by the institutions.
FEATURED IMAGE: A student filling in paperwork for funding. Photo: File.
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