NSFAS & NSF doesn’t have capacity to meet constitutional obligations, minister tells Scopa
Minister of Higher Education and Technology Nobuhle Nkabane told MPs on Tuesday that there are dead students who continue to benefit from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
Nkabane briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in Parliament on various challenges facing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and the National Skills Fund.
The minister said that in some instances, invalid IDs are used to acquire NSFAS funding.
“There are a lot of turnaround strategies that we need to come up with, turning or correcting the entire system in our entity,” Nkabane added, saying the department is busy implementing the auditor-general's recommendations.
NSFAS has been subject to intense scrutiny over the past couple of years, including a period of administration from 2018 to 2020 and recent corruption allegations involving former CEO Andile Nongogo and ex-board chair Ernest Khoza.
The minister also told MPs that she's committed to transforming the National Skills Fund.
“We're committed to fighting corruption and addressing misconduct. I'm pushing hard to enforce consequence management at the entity. Yesterday (Monday), we had a session where those implicated in the investigation by the Nexus Forensic Report have been removed from office with immediate effect,” Nkabane said.
According to the Nexus Report, R2.5 billion of the entity’s funds went missing and are unaccounted for in two financial years
Nkabane expressed concern that her department's ability to equip the nation with necessary skills is hindered by a lack of capacity in critical positions.
“My observation is that we don’t have the capacity, and there is no way we can deliver in terms of our constitutional obligation. That’s the challenge that we are facing.”
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