Billions lost because Nsfas improperly funded 40,000 students

Public protector advocate Kholeka Gcaleka says failures at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) and the higher education and training department have prejudiced students after investigations revealed that more than 40,000 of them had been improperly funded at an estimated cost of R5.1bn.

Gcaleka said Nsfas is besieged by systemic deficiencies in its administration, governance, funding, co-ordination and oversight.

She said the evidence indicates instability and resulting inefficiencies, with students citing delays in funding confirmations, the payment of allowances, and the processing of appeal applications, as well as delays in settling student tuition accounts, which result in qualifications being withheld.

The investigation was initiated after complaints raised against Nsfas concerning alleged administrative deficiencies affecting students’ access to financial aid and, consequently, their access to higher education.

Gcaleka said evidence gathered depicts Nsfas as an institution affected by persistent governance instability, administrative weakness and inadequate systems.

“These deficiencies have impaired its ability to discharge its statutory mandate effectively.” — Public protector Adv Kholeka Gcaleka

Speaking during a media briefing yesterday on an investigation by her office into alleged maladministration at the funding body, Gcaleka said independent reviews, including a ministerial committee of inquiry in 2021, concluded that Nsfas has functioned in a near-permanent state of crisis.

“These deficiencies have impaired its ability to discharge its statutory mandate effectively, efficiently and in a manner consistent with the standards expected of a public entity entrusted with public funds and vulnerable beneficiaries,” she said.

Gcaleka said the evidence establishes that students experienced recurring delays in receiving funding decisions, appeal outcomes and allowances.

“These delays caused direct and foreseeable prejudice, including food insecurity, accommodation instability and exposure to unsafe living conditions. Such outcomes demonstrate that Nsfas failures were not merely technical or internal but materially affected students’ dignity, welfare and ability to participate in higher education,” she said.

Gcaleka has recommended that the minister for higher education and training, Buti Manamela, and vice-chancellors and principals of tertiary institutions reconsider the present debt-recovery methods in favour of measures that do not deny graduates access to the qualifications required to become economically active, including mechanisms that may operate once the affected students become income earners.

She also urged the government to start addressing issues surrounding student accommodation.