Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube, has described it as “very disappointing” that systemic weaknesses within NSFAS allowed hundreds of deceased and thousands of ineligible students to continue receiving funding.
Her remarks follow a recent Auditor-General report that exposed serious irregularities in the student funding scheme. The report found that 822 deceased students, more than 14,000 students from households above the income threshold, and 321 students who received double funding while also benefiting from social relief programmes were funded improperly.
Department Demands Immediate Turnaround Plan
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Dube-Ncube said the Department of Higher Education and Training has instructed the NSFAS board to urgently submit a turnaround plan explaining what went wrong.
According to her, one of the major failures was the lapse of a verification contract with the Department of Home Affairs. This prevented proper identity checks and contributed to deceased students remaining on the funding system.
She said it is unacceptable that no alternative mechanisms were in place to detect these errors.
“It cannot be that they did not have any other measures that they were able to detect these wrongful students, because this actually means that there are other students, deserving students, who should have received this money, who then were not able to receive this money.”
Dube-Ncube stressed that the misallocation of funds has directly affected deserving students who should have benefited from the scheme.
Concerns Over Lost Funding and Oversight Failures
The Deputy Minister said NSFAS must clearly explain what consequences will follow for board members and staff responsible for the failures. She also said the institution must outline how it plans to recover the misallocated money.
She insisted that accountability is non-negotiable, especially given the scale of the losses involved.
> “There has to be consequences, because it cannot be that such an amount of money that has been lost to NSFAS can just go like that, and nobody is going to be held responsible.”
Categories of Irregular Funding Identified
The department is currently awaiting full reports on the three key categories of students identified by the Auditor-General.
| Category | Number of Students | Issue Identified |
|---|---|---|
| Deceased students | 822 | Continued receiving NSFAS funding |
| Students above income threshold | 14,000+ | Did not qualify financially but still received funding |
| Students with double funding | 321 | Received NSFAS support while also benefiting from social relief programmes |
Accommodation Matters Also Under Investigation
In addition to the student funding irregularities, Dube-Ncube confirmed that matters related to accommodation have also been referred for forensic investigation.
She said the broader governance concerns at NSFAS can no longer be tolerated, especially because the institution exists to support poor and vulnerable South African students.
“NSFAS is providing very important services to the poorest of the poor South Africans, and we need to make sure every cent that goes to NSFAS is utilised where it is needed.”
Call for Serious Consequences
Dube-Ncube said the time has come for firm action against those responsible for repeated governance failures at NSFAS.
She argued that the sector has spent too long discussing problems without acting decisively to stop them.
“We can’t keep on complaining about governance issues. There has to be a time where we stop complaining and take action.”
She added that real accountability may require criminal charges, arrests, and the recovery of funds where necessary.
“There has to be a time where there are people arrested, people jailed, and we clean the systems.”
Governance Problems Keep Repeating
On the issue of recurring failures, the Deputy Minister said the main reason the problems continue is because decisive intervention has not yet been taken.
She warned that unresolved issues from previous years continue to pile up, while new irregularities keep emerging.
According to her, it is not enough to fix only a handful of problems when new governance failures continue to surface year after year.
NSFAS Board Given Three Months
Dube-Ncube said the department has given the NSFAS board three months to begin investigations and submit a report that clearly sets out the accountability process.
The report must explain:
| Required Action | Details |
|---|---|
| Start of investigations | When the investigations will begin |
| Process steps | What actions will be taken to carry out the probe |
| Timelines | Clear deadlines for each stage |
| Monitoring | Progress that can be tracked weekly and monthly |
| Accountability | How outcomes will be reported and enforced |
She said the department will formally commit to this process and sign it off with the Auditor-General to ensure that progress can be monitored properly.
Final Word
Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube has made it clear that the latest NSFAS irregularities are not just administrative failures, but a serious betrayal of students who genuinely need financial support.
With hundreds of deceased beneficiaries, thousands of ineligible students receiving funding, and accommodation matters now under forensic review, the department is under pressure to ensure that the NSFAS board acts quickly.
The next three months will be crucial in determining whether meaningful accountability, recovery of funds, and real system reform finally take place.
