Cape Town — The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) says it is pulling out all the stops to ensure payment and accommodation issues are addressed and solved ahead of the new academic year.
NSFAS has faced its fair share of troubles in the past over failing to make payments to students, leaving many stranded and without any money to get by.
In April, Blade Nzimande dissolved the NSFAS board over failing to address student complaints, namely the payment allowances.
NSFAS also terminated the contracts of four service providers, that had also failed to make student payments. A recommendation from Werksmans Attorneys found that Ezaga Holdings, Coinvest Africa, Norraco Corporation and Tenet Technologies were appointed irregularly.
NSFAS administrator, Freeman Nomvala, held a media briefing on Tuesday and touched on the organisation’s governance, management and administrati0n of the scheme.
The NSFAS Administrator, Mr Freeman Nomvalo, will address a media briefing on developments in the implementation of his mandate as the NSFAS Administrator.#NSFAS2024 pic.twitter.com/3RIlSIOYg0
— NSFAS (@myNSFAS) August 6, 2024
Nomvala said the payment process for student accommodation remained costly and frustrating and they had decided to streamline this process to make sure it is cost-effective, efficient and that students and accommodation providers got their money on time, The Citizen reported.
Nomvala said that many TVET college students faced problems in not receiving money straight to their accounts, which became a costly problem for the organisation.
He said the issue with accommodation providers remained “painful” and reiterated the goal was to catch up on outstanding payments and engage with stakeholders.
He said that NSFAS wanted to enhance transparency and did so by brining in the services of KPMG and BDO Global to tackle backlogs and assist close-out reports, financial statements and student accommodation issues in an effort to highlight wasteful expenditure.
The NSFAS has appointed auditing firms KPMG and BDO Global to help it with problems facing the fund. Scheme administrator Freeman Nomvalo says they’ll help tackle backlogs. NSFAS has failed to pay accommodation as well as tuition fees and other allowances, leaving vulnerable… pic.twitter.com/ZuZJglra26
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) August 6, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
