Q: Why is there a lack of funding for students when Nsfas has a R4.4bn surplus?
A: Nsfas collects money from students who received loans before we introduced the fee-free scheme. Nsfas used to be a loan scheme that offered just a small number of bursaries, but now it is exclusively a bursary provider. Nsfas still collects funds from those who owe it money, so that could be where the surplus comes from.
Q: Why is there such high student debt?
A: Debts are owed to universities by students not covered by Nsfas.
Q: How many applications were received for this academic year, and how many can Nsfas afford to cover?
A: Nsfas received about 1.2-million applications, and we have funded about 520,000 of those. Not all who apply qualify for financial support.
Q: Are contracts still being given to rogue service providers?
A: What do you mean by “rogue service providers”?
Q: Irregularly appointed service providers?
A: Not as far as I know.
Q: Because that has been a big problem, hasn’t it?
A: I don’t know what you mean by “rogue service providers”.
Q: Those who score rather handsomely from the grant money they receive from Nsfas that should be paid into students’ accounts?
A: Nsfas no longer uses third parties to pay students. Grants are now paid directly to students or indirectly through their universities.
Q: Because using middlemen led to a lot of corruption, didn’t it?
A: Of course, yes. There was a finding that their appointments were illegal, and those contracts were terminated. The new board has put in place measures to ensure student allowances are paid into their accounts on time.
Q: How many complicit Nsfas officials are still inside the organisation?
A: As far as I know, anyone who may have been implicated in any wrongdoing at Nsfas is no longer there. In addition, the Nsfas chair, the CEO and the entire board in place when these things happened have gone.
Q: How many are in jail?
A: I think you must speak to the Special Investigating Unit about that.
Q: You don’t know if any complicit Nsfas officials have gone to jail?
A: No. But what we are quite happy with is that the new board and acting CEO are making sure we’ve got proper regulatory measures and governance structures in place. We also have appropriate risk management systems and better technology to ensure we have an efficient Nsfas system.
Q: So why is Nsfas irregular expenditure so high?
A: What specifically are you referring to?
Q: Information presented to parliament recently and confirmed by the auditor-general (AG)?
A: We’ve had issues with accountability measures at Nsfas in the last three years. The new board’s mandate is partly to deal with the issues highlighted by the AG. The second big issue is that we have an institution expected to disburse close to R50bn to so many students with very little administration funding or capacity.
Q: Is this why Nsfas is funding student accommodation that is not compliant with health and safety or other regulations?
A: Any official found to have verified wrongful accommodation will have to be dealt with.
Q: Is fee-free higher education promised by the government sustainable?
A: Yes.
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