Cape Town — The National Student Funding Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has announced that it will start legal proceedings to remove four service providers who failed to pay students’ monthly allowances.
New NSFAS administrator, Freeman Nomvalo, announced that Ezaga Holdings, Coinvest Africa, Narraco Corporation and Tenet Technologies were the entities appointed to carry out payments. Instead, a recommendation from Werksmans Attorneys found that these service providers were appointed irregularly, SABC News reported.
Nomvalo said that NSFAS would now be solely responsible for making payments directly to students.
“It will resolve the problems specifically that relate to students. Some of the unrest that has taken place in campuses and TVET colleges in particular, were issues where students would know that money has come through, it would reflect on their account, and then the money would suddenly disappear,” Nomvalo said.
Mr Nomvalo announces that the new method of allowance payment that will see NSFAS pay allowances to students directly into accounts with banks of their choices has commenced and students at TEVT colleges will be paid their May allowances this month.#NSFASAllowances #NSFAS2024 pic.twitter.com/8VTdpgKl2N
— NSFAS (@myNSFAS) May 27, 2024
According to TimesLIVE, the report found by Werksmans Attorneys found that former CEO, Andile Nongogo, was accused of a conflict of interest in awarding the contracts.
Nongogo actively participated in the proposals of the service providers, which violated NSFAS’s procurement process. Nomvalo said they worked with the Special Investigating Unit in deciding to terminate the contracts.
“In the termination of these contracts, NSFAS collaborated with the SIU. Through our lawyers, we have communicated this decision to all the direct payment service providers [on Monday]. Furthermore, we have made significant progress in subjecting all implicated NSFAS employees in the report to appropriate disciplinary action. ” he said.
The South African Union of Students (SAUS) secretary, Asive Dlanjwa, welcomed the decision and said the payment systems worked for the interim but the new interventions would allow better payment options for students, Mail & Guardian reported.
“We welcome the interventions which will see students receiving their allowances on time and in the bank accounts of their choosing and convenience,” said Dlanjwa.
In the meantime, university students will continue to receive their allowances through the university, as NSFAS had requested the institutions to assist until the end of July.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
