Cape Town — Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation, Blade Nzimande, has dismissed the false and ill-informed allegations that he issued a National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) tender to a colleague.
In a statement, Nzimande said he had no role in awarding the tender to Mr Tilson Manyoni, or any other colleague, saying the claims are both false and malicious.
“Firstly, Mr Tilson Manyoni is not and has never been an advisor to the Minister, as erroneously suggested by some media houses. The names of the advisors of the Minister are matters of public record and discoverable with little or no difficulty.” he said.
“Secondly, in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and applicable Treasury Regulations, Ministers are defined outside the value chain of procurement matters precisely to guarantee the integrity of such processes,” Nzimande added.
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Therefore, any queries relating to procurement processes at NSFAS should rightfully be directed to the Chief Executive Officer or Board of NSFAS. It added that it was unfair Nzimande to answer questions about the details of entities, as those entities each have their own accounting officers, executives and boards.
According to IOL, Nzimande said he had no role in the awarding of an NSFAS tender to Manyoni or any other individual or company. He further reassured the public that he was committed to ensuring that the country experiences a smooth start to the 2024 academic year.
NSFAS added that Manyoni’s tender was legitimate and met all the requirements and also confirmed that he was not listed as a government employee, and the company did not declare any conflict of interest during the time of bidding for this contract.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
