Forum for South Africa Calling for Nsfas to Be Disbanded
Tebogo Mashilompane
National Leader of Forum for South Africa
By Tebogo Mashilompane
National Leader of Forum for South Africa – Forum4SA
Forum for South Africa (Forum 4 SA) notes with serious concern the Public Protector’s findings that more than 40,000 students improperly received NSFAS funding amounting to approximately R5.1 billion, while more than R2 billion has already been recovered.
These findings strengthen our earlier position that there is a serious lack of proper governance within NSFAS.
Recently, the Minister of Higher Education and Training warned that NSFAS is facing a significant funding shortfall.
However, what is deeply concerning is that the focus continues to be on the funding gap while there appears to be no clear strategy to address financial mismanagement, corruption, weak oversight, and accountability failures within the institution.
South Africa cannot continue to inject billions of rand into a system that continues to fail both students and taxpayers.
Forum 4 SA believes that the time has come for government to seriously consider disbanding NSFAS and replacing it with a new, transparent, accountable, and professionally managed student funding model.
Thousands of deserving students continue to face uncertainty regarding their education while billions of rand are lost through poor administration and alleged corruption.
Forum 4 SA therefore calls for:
-The immediate disbandment of NSFAS.
-A comprehensive forensic investigation into all irregular payments.
-The prosecution of all officials and individuals involved in corruption.
-The recovery of all misappropriated funds.
-The establishment of a new student funding system based on transparency, accountability, and effective governance.
The future of South Africa’s students cannot be held hostage by corruption and administrative failures.
Education is a constitutional right, and every deserving student must have access to a funding system that is fair, transparent, and free from corruption.