EFF wants all Nsfas board nominees to be interviewed publicly

The EFF has demanded that all nominees for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) board be interviewed publicly and also tell South Africans how they will protect money meant to serve students.

The board was dissolved in April by former Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande months after board chair Ernest Khosa took a leave of absence pending investigations into multimillion-rand graft allegations. The scheme was placed under administration.

This now comes in the middle of an Nsfas roadshow and days after administrator Freeman Nomvalo promised changes that would tackle payment delays and accommodation woes, among other issues.

Nominations for the board have been invited but must be submitted by 3 September.

ANC-appointed board ‘behind the shadows’

A statement from the EFF’s student command said on Tuesday it had noted the opening of the nominations process for the new board but had observed “a dubious and unethical culture of appointing individuals to the Nsfas Board in a private and untransparent manner” in the past.

“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.

The EFF said, by Nzimande’s own admission, that the scheme had been unable to carry out and implement “the most basic responsibilities allocated to it by the Nsfas Act”.

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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.

The EFF pointed to 2018, when the board had also been dissolved by then minister Dr Naledi Pandor due to its “failures and delays in approving and disbursing funding”.

Ethical leadership and transparency the solution

The EFF said ethical and transparent leadership would turn the tide on years of mismanagement of government funds, maladministration, corruption, and fraud.

The party pointed to how the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) undergoes a transparent parliamentary process 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 scheme oversees an annual budget of around R50 billion.

“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.”

READ MORE: Nsfas losing over R21m a year to corruption