The Minister of Higher Education, Mr. Buti Manamela, PROMISES that the benefits of students will not be affected after he placed under the control of the National Students’ Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Manamela, who announced this move yesterday afternoon, said that he has put the fund under a regulator so that there will be stability in it. This follows the sudden resignation of two members of the board that controls the fund, including the acting chairman, Dr Mugwena Maluleke, who said she resigned because she wanted to focus on her studies.
“I decided to put NSFAS under the administrator. This decision was not easy, I did this because I want to have stability in the board of this fund,” he said.
He said that when he took over the Ministry, there were already complaints about the board of this fund.
“This fund helps many students from poor families. That’s why we don’t want any problems,” he said.
He said that there have been complaints about the composition of the board of this fund as there are reports showing this within NSFAS.
He pointed out that there are things that were revealed by the Auditor General about the way money is managed in this fund.
“Due to the resignation of the acting chairman and his deputy, I have written to the remaining board members to explain the challenges that exist. Before deciding to install an administrator, I have looked at the recommendations of the remaining members.”
He said he is appointing Professor Hlengani Mathebula to look after this fund, he said he has experience in management.
“He has experience in finance as well as in the field of higher education. He has been part of SARS as well as in other sectors. We hope that he will restore stability to this fund. I want to ensure that the distribution of student benefits as well as the payment of candidates will not be disturbed. This decision I have taken is not governed by the issue of division that is said to exist in this fund,” said Manamela.
He said he will look after the stability of things including places of residence and others. It has become common for administrators to be assigned to this fund to try to fix things. The fund is facing challenges of non-payment on time.