NSFAS boss placed on leave after students protest against direct banking system outside Parliament

17 Aug 2023

Following student protests against the National Student Financial Aid Scheme on Wednesday outside Parliament, it was announced that the scheme’s CEO, Andile Nongogo, would be placed on leave while the scheme investigates allegations against him.

Students marched to Parliament on Wednesday calling for Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to intervene against the new direct banking system implemented by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

On the same day, the NSFAS board announced that its CEO, Andile Nongogo, would be placed on a leave of absence following allegations against him while he led the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (Services Seta) and that it would investigate allegations regarding the direct payment system.

Students from Western Cape universities marched from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Cape Town campus to Parliament. It was the most recent in a series of protests against the new NSFAS payment system.

Under the new system, students’ NSFAS allowances are disbursed directly to students’ accounts through four service providers. Previously, NSFAS made the payments through universities. Students have complained that payments have been made late and the bank fees are exorbitant.

Read more in Daily Maverick: The NSFAS direct banking system and why students will march in protest to Parliament

Students from Western Cape universities sit on the road to Parliament in protest against the introduction of the direct payment of allowance system by NSFAS, 16 August 2023. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

Students from Western Cape universities march to Parliament, 16 August 2023. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

Allegations against NSFAS CEO

On Wednesday, NSFAS released a statement saying that the scheme’s board would launch an investigation with a particular focus on the direct payment project. The investigation comes after multiple allegations were levelled against Nongogo relating to his time as the head of the Services Seta.

“The allegations relate to his work with the [Services Seta] and how this may relate to unacceptable conduct in the awarding of bids at NSFAS. While the board recognises that, in the main, the allegations stem from activities in another organisation, it views them in a serious light,” said the NSFAS board.

According to reports, in 2018 Services Seta awarded the company Star Sign and Print a highly inflated contract. A director of the company is now a director at Coinvest Africa, one of the companies to which NSFAS gave a lucrative contract to implement its direct payment system.

NSFAS board chairperson Ernest Khosa said: “The board wishes to reiterate that this investigation is no pronouncement of guilt against the CEO, but an objective effort to determine the veracity of the allegations.”

NSFAS chief financial officer Masile Ramorwesi will be acting CEO during the investigation.

The civil rights organisation Outa published a report on the NSFAS direct payment system in October 2022. While outlining the exorbitant fees involved in the direct payment system, Outa said some of the four companies involved did not have banking licences and were not VAT-registered.

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘Uncertainty, anxiety and frustration’ — NSFAS students cry foul over new banking system

Students from Western Cape universities in solidarity, 16 August 2023. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

Police monitor the march by students from Western Cape universities, 16 August 2023. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

Students from Western Cape universities march to Parliament alongside police vehicles, 16 August 2023. (Photo: Ziyanda Duba)

‘We have so little money’

Many students have been vocal about the financial aid scheme’s shortcomings, which have left students unhoused, unfed and unable to access their bursaries.

Jessamy van Beulen, who is studying for a Bachelor of Arts at Stellenbosch University, said she was at her breaking point after receiving little to no payment and assistance from NSFAS.

“We are skipping lunch or breakfast, because you need to think about next week’s meals, because we have so little money,” said Van Beulen.

Van Beulen said she faced troubles when trying to join Coinvest. When she attempted to sign up, she was told that she was not a beneficiary of NSFAS, even though she is.

“I have emailed NSFAS and they said that my case is sorted so, on their side, I’m apparently on the platform. So, I don’t currently even have access to my money.”

Arno Carolus, a second-year psychology major from Stellenbosch University, was holding a sign during the demonstration that read: “Ek soek my fokken geld [I want my f**king money]”.

“I used the word ‘fokken’ because it expresses my anger. It’s part of my identity and it is how we express ourselves when we are angry, when there is no other way left to speak,” Carolus said.

He added that while trying to sort out the issue, NSFAS had sent him to various officials but no one could help him access his funding.

“Never once was I offered the chance to fill out any paperwork — nothing, absolutely nothing.”

The chairperson of the Stellenbosch University Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Masilo Silokazi, told Daily Maverick that NSFAS “ignored” or “pretended that they’ve never heard” complaints lodged by the SRC.

She added that during June, the SRC marched to the NSFAS offices and tried to engage with NSFAS officials, but the officials showed a lack of willingness to engage with their concerns.

At Parliament, ANC MP Tebogo Letsie, a member of the portfolio committee on higher education, said the committee had accepted the memorandum from the students. He said the chairperson would look into the issues within the stipulated deadline of 24 hours. DM

Ernst Calitz is the managing editor of Varsity News, the student-run newspaper at the University of Cape Town.

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Allegations against NSFAS CEO

‘We have so little money’