Johnathan Paoli
THE Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has announced that it has so far made a recovery totaling R737 926 351, with the figure including R688 220 611.56 in unallocated funds and signed acknowledgment of debt agreements of R49 705 739.60 as part of an investigation into the affairs of NSFAS.
The SIU was presenting its findings to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) on Wednesday in Cape Town and said that the unallocated funds were due to poor control systems and a lack of reconciliation processes by NSFAS and were not collected from institutions of higher learning.
When approached by the SIU, the institutions subsequently cooperated, which led to a quick recovery process.
Institutions of Higher Learning that was approached by SIU included; West Coast College, Northlink College, Walter Sisulu University, Nkangala TVET, University of Johannesburg, University of Zululand, University of Pretoria, Majuba TVET College, and the University of Mpumalanga.
SIU Head of Communications and Stakeholder Relations, Kaizer Kganyago said the unit signed acknowledgment of debt agreements of R49 705 739.60 with the Motheo TVET College in the Free State, and with parents and students who did not meet the NSFAS funding criteria.
Kganyago said that investigation has revealed that NSFAS failed to design and implement controls to ensure that there was an annual reconciliation between the funds disbursed to the institutions and the allocation of those funds to the students.
“These control weaknesses have led to overpayments and underpayments of funds to the different institutions over the period 2017 to date. NSFAS has recently appointed a service provider to assist them in performing this reconciliation via a process called close-out reporting”, the unit said.
Kganyago said that the reconciliation process was still ongoing and that the SIU found that the e-wallet/voucher payment system, Celbux had many “dormant” accounts lying active on the system dating back to 2018 amounting to an estimated value of R320 million.
With regards to NSFAS-funded accommodation, the unit said that it found that details of the accommodation such as physical addresses and details of the landlord or owner of the accommodation were not captured on the NSFAS system, nor were the details vetted by the funding scheme.
The SIU is in terms of Proclamation R88 of 2022 authorised to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of NSFAS and to recover any financial losses suffered by the State through corruption and negligence and further empowered to institute civil action in the High Court or a Special Tribunal in its name, to correct any wrongdoing uncovered during both investigations caused by acts of corruption, fraud, or maladministration.
In line with the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act 74 of 1996, the SIU is entitled to refer any evidence pointing to criminal conduct it uncovers to the NPA for further action.
This follows the recent announcement of the Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Blade Nzimande, approving the proposed 2024 eligibility criteria and conditions for financial aid.
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