Outa flags Nsfas’s parliament report discrepancies

When the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) finally presented its report to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science, and Innovation on 4 October – a whole week after it failed to do so on the day it was assigned to – a number of alleged discrepancies were noted.

ALSO READ: Nsfas failure to pay students on time causing ‘immense mental stress’ − DA

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) spokesperson, Rudie Heyneke, explained that their scrutiny uncovered several areas of concern, including red flags, inaccuracies, half-truths, and what they deemed as blatant dishonesty on the part of some presenters.

Areas of concern

Heyneke said some of the key areas of concern included a lack of sub-contractor transparency, a drastic reduction in monthly fees that seemed questionable, concerns about unpaid students, and student accommodation shortages.

“Nsfas failed to provide the names of the service providers. Also, presenters claimed that the monthly fee for student accounts had been reduced from R89 to R12, an 86% decrease. Outa questions how service providers can afford such a reduction and whether they are compensating for losses through increased transaction fees.

“MPs also expressed concerns about students who had not received their allowances, highlighting the human impact of delayed payments.

Student beds

“There was also the issue that only 25,803 student beds were accredited for 2024, a stark contrast to the amount needed. Outa is investigating how government officials, university employees, and accommodation providers were appointed to accredit student accommodation,” Heyneke said.

In its report, Nsfas noted that just under 250 000 applications for beds were received on its online portal. The funding agency confirmed that it had paid for just under 70 000 beds. But, it noted that only 25 803 of those paid for beds were accredited.  

ALSO READ: Nsfas one of govt’s success stories – Blade Nzimande

The Citizen reached out to Nsfas to gain clarity on this aspect of the report. While we were promised a response, none have been forthcoming after several day.

A presentation by payment system provider Tenet Technology found 144 396 students had received allowances from an allocation of 225 000 per annum, a seeming shortfall of over 80,000 students who did not their allowances through the new direct-payment system.

The company said delays and high transaction costs were among the challenges it faced.