‘Allowances will continue’: Nsfas placed under administration amid governance concerns

Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela. Picture: DHET/ Facebook Manamela announced his decision, which he says was “not taken lightly”, during a media briefing on Monday, 4 May. The decision, Manamela said, was arrived at after a long process of engagement, legal assessment, governance intervention, and consideration of alternatives.

“When I assumed office as minister of higher education and training, concerns already existed regarding the constitution of the Nsfas board. Following legal assessment and advice, the department approached the courts through self-review proceedings concerning the processes through which the board had been constituted,” Manamela said. “We took this step because government cannot knowingly ignore potential legal irregularities in the constitution of a statutory body entrusted with billions of rands in public funds and the futures of millions of students.” He said during the process, the scheme’s board experienced a series of resignations, including that of then chairperson Dr Karen Stander and other members of the board.

Interim chairperson Dr Mugwena Maluleke and a deputy chairperson were appointed, although they also eventually stepped down. “Subsequently, requests were made for the filling of vacancies on the board. However, having already approached the courts regarding the legality of the court’s constitution, it would have been contradictory and potentially irrational for government to proceed as though that issue did not exist,” the minister said.

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“At the same time,broader institutional concernsat Nsfas continued to deepen.” These concerns, Manamela said, did not emerge from rumour or speculation but from Nsfas’ own reports, engagements, governance records, and also responses to the department. Issues the scheme faced included material irregularities identified by the auditor general, weaknesses in consequence management, serious data integrity concerns, unresolved student appeals caused substantially by system efficiency, delays in ICT modernisation and system integration, student accommodation failures affecting student dignity and safety, and also broader governance and accountability concerns.

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