EFFSC statement on the opening of the nominations process for the new NSFAS Board
13 August 2024
The Economic Freedom Fighters Students' Command (EFFSC) notes the opening of the Nominations process for the new Board of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). A media alert from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) announced that the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, invites the people of South Africa to nominate individuals to serve on the new NSFAS Board.
The EFFSC has observed a dubious and unethical culture of appointing individuals to the NSFAS Board in a private and untransparent manner. Over the years, the community of higher education has allowed dishonourable Ministers of the African National Congress (ANC) to appoint Board members in corners and behind the shadows, without any public scrutiny and transparency.
It is this culture of political secrecy and duplicity which has led to the rampant corruption at NSFAS and the institutionalisation of patronage in government institutions.
On 14 April 2024, the former Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, announced the dissolution of the then Board of NSFAS, and his decision to place the national funding scheme under administration.
By his own admission, the decision to dissolve the then Board of NSFAS was as a result of the NSFAS Board's fiduciary failure to resolve the national funding scheme's "inability to carry out and implement some of the most basic responsibilities allocated to it by the NSFAS Act."
Forensic reports found that the Board not only failed to play a meaningful and critical oversight duty to NSFAS, but also participated in the fraudulent and corrupt activities of the funding scheme.
It must be noted that this was not the first time a Board of NSFAS was dissolved. In 2018 the then Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Naledi Pandor, dissolved the Board of NSFAS and placed the funding scheme under Administration due to its "failures and delays in approving and disbursing funding."
Therefore, the stubborn challenges of NSFAS need ethical and transparent leadership to turn the tide of years of mismanagement of government funds, maladministration, corruption and fraud.
Just as the appointment of Board members to the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) goes through a transparent parliamentary process, which is open to public engagement and scrutiny, the potential Board members of NSFAS must also be interviewed in a public forum and their qualifications, expertise and credentials displayed to the people of South Africa.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) oversees an annual budget of an odd Fifty Billion Rands (50B). The people of South Africa, together with the Higher Education community, deserve to know the type of individuals who are going to administer this money.
All nominated NSFAS Board members must be interviewed in public, and account publicly on how they are going to protect the money meant to serve the students of South Africa.
We equally call on all South Africans who have the relevant expertise and understand the transformative agenda of the sector, to participate in the nomination process. Nominations must be submitted no later than Tuesday, 3 September 2024.
Issued by Masixole Mabhongo, Communications & Information Officer, EFFSC, 14 August 2024
