Uncategorized
PHUTI MOSOMANE
THE University of Johannesburg has refunded R311 million of unallocated funds from 2016 to 2021, which were meant for students who qualified for funding but either changed institutions or deregistered.
The payment made by UJ brings the total amount received from institutions of higher learning to around R349.3 million since the beginning of the NSFAS investigation in September 2022.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has welcomed this payment and encouraged all institutions of higher learning to repay unallocated funds that are owed to NSFAS.
NSFAS was supposed to collect unallocated funds at the end of each year through reconciliation with the institutions of higher learning. However, the SIU’s investigation found that NSFAS had failed to design and implement controls that would ensure an annual reconciliation between the funds disbursed to the institutions and the funded list of registered students.
To address this, NSFAS has recently hired a service provider to assist with the reconciliation process, known as “close out reporting.”
The SIU is authorised to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of NSFAS and to recover any financial losses caused by corruption and negligence.
The SIU can take civil action in the High Court or a Special Tribunal in its name to correct any wrongdoing caused by corruption, fraud, or maladministration. Any evidence of criminal conduct uncovered during the investigation will be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for further action.
The SIU has found that more than R5 billion of NSFAS funds may have been allocated to students who did not qualify for funding. The investigations have so far revealed that more than 40,000 students in 76 institutions of higher education have been funded incorrectly.
These are students whose household income is above R350,000 and therefore would not qualify for NSFAS funding based on the funding rules. These students did not submit their parents’ details upon application, and therefore the means test was not properly conducted.
Moreover, the SIU has facilitated a refund or managed to ring-fence about R38.3 million owed to NSFAS from three TVET colleges. Two of these colleges are in the Western Cape, and one is from Mpumalanga.
The SIU is engaging other institutions to determine if they are holding any overpayments that need to be ring-fenced pending the completion of the investigation.
INSIDE EDUCATION