It was recently revealed that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) paid billions of rands to students who did not meet the eligibility criteria to receive funding. The Special Investigative Unit (SIU) uncovered this as part of their investigation into the NSFAS operations between 2016 and August 2022.
The SIU explained that at least 40,000 students exceeded the NSFAS household income threshold and received funding to study. Students who improperly benefitted from NSFAS cost the financial aid scheme approximately R5 billion.
The financial aid scheme provides bursaries to deserving students from poor and working-class families. To qualify for NSFAS, students may not exceed the household income threshold of R350,000 for able-bodied students and R600,000 for students living with a disability.
It is believed students misrepresented their household income which made them eligible for funding.
NSFAS board chairperson, Ernest Khoza welcomed the SIU’s findings and is confident that loopholes exploited by students have now been closed.
They explain measures have been put in place to ensure that it would be very difficult for this to happen in 2023.
NSFAS now collaborates with the Department of Home Affairs, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and credit bureaus to verify that students do not exceed the household income threshold.
In the past, students would just need to submit an affidavit and NSFAS would process their application in good faith. However, now students need to provide proof e.g. court documents to verify the information they provided to the financial aid scheme.
We're not talking about the current situation, we're talking about history. We should make that very clear because if we present it as something that is happening currently an impression is going to be given to the public that there's a party at NSFAS
Khosa says they are concerned that the findings give the impression that the problems remain ongoing at NSFAS. They explain that the findings are not indicative of the current work being done at NSFAS.
I will say with no shadow of doubt that the magnitude of the problem that was there in those years is not there anymore.
It was also revealed that NSFAS paid tuition fees for students who had dropped out of their courses. Khosa says this will be addressed as NSFAS is establishing a system that will allow the financial aid scheme to seamlessly communicate with institutions.
