Fees commission hears historical debt must be written off
The higher education system would be better managed, if all debt is written off.
That's the Department of Higher Education and Training's latest submission before the Fees Commission.
Department officials were again called to appear before the commission to answer outstanding questions.
The department's Diane Parker told the commission historic debt has been steadily increasing since 2012.
In 2015, the figure stood at R6.3 billion.
"We did an accounting of student debt which was owed to universities by National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) students which had built up from 2013, 2014 and 2015," Parker said.
The department also submitted that a forensic investigation is underway into the misuse of NSFAS funds.
"We are going into the third phase of that particular investigation, specifically on the utilisation of NSFAS funds and the extent to which such fraud exists," Parker said.
The department's Firoz Patel told the commission that institutions battling historic debt which can't be recovered, should rather write it off.
"As long as you survive, you can cut your losses," he said.