The new administrator of the National Financial Aid Scheme for Students (NSFAS) will have a difficult task to restore the struggling institution’s credibility and sort out problems with, among other things, the payment of service providers, the accommodation pilot project and outstanding grant.
Freeman Nomvalo was appointed as the new administrator of NSFAS at the weekend after it was decided to dissolve the institution’s board. According to the minister, the council failed to fulfill or implement some of the basic responsibilities he assigned to them.
Chantal King, the DA’s spokesperson on higher education, says Nomvalo’s task will be even more difficult while Blade Nzimande remains minister of higher education, training and innovation.
“Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa also decided to keep the wolf in sheep’s clothing by failing to stand in the way of Nzimande,” says King.
She says that despite the watchdog organization Outa’s investigation involving the minister in a so-called patronage network in the department, Nzimande refused to resign.
He reiterated this weekend that there is no reason for him to lay down the rig. According to the minister, those who are demanding his resignation did not appoint him and he made the NSFAS grow as an institution to one with a budget of more than R50 billion.
However, King believes that if Ramaphosa and the ANC really cared about the well-being of students, and wanted to ensure that thousands of young people find work in the future, Ramaphosa would have fired Nzimande to “bring an end to the wave of corruption and mismanagement at NSFAS”.
