Johannesburg – The board of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) on Wednesday placed its Chief Executive Officer Andile Nongogo on gardening leave.
In the past few weeks, several allegations were levelled against the NSFAS chief executive officer.
“In the interest of the image of NSFAS, the Board has resolved to investigate the allegations with a particular focus on the Direct Payment project,” the Board said on Wednesday in a late afternoon communique.
“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.”
The Board said while it recognises that, in the main, the allegations stem from activities in another organisation, it views them in a very serious light.
“During the course of the investigation, the Chief Executive Officer will be on leave of absence,” the Board said.
“The Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Masile Ramorwesi, will be acting as Chief Executive Officer until further notice.”
The Board said it wishes to reiterate that this investigation is not a pronouncement of guilt against the CEO, but an objective effort to determine the veracity of the allegations.
Board Chair Ernest Khosa said: “The Board commits itself to transformation and clean governance at NSFAS and will ensure that any activities that defeat the purpose of serving students from poor and working-class backgrounds are addressed decisively”.
Nongogo was appointed by Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister Dr. Blade Nzimande as CEO of NSFAS on a five-year contract in November 2020.
Commenting on the matter, Minister Nzimande said he “notes the decision” by the NSFAS Board to place Nongogo on leave of absence, while “investigating allegations surrounding the appointment of service providers to manage the direct payment solution on behalf of the scheme”.
The minister said the direct payment solution was a necessary measure to reduce instances of unauthorised access to beneficiaries’ allowances, payment of ghost students, inconsistencies, and delayed payments of allowances.
He emphasised that the direct payment solution was in-line with the Student-Centered Model which NSFAS adopted.
Minister Nzimande wished Ramorwesi well on his appointment as the Acting CEO.
He urged all stakeholders to cooperate with him in fulfilling his responsibilities.
The Minister further directed the Board that, in the interest of transparency and clarifying claims surrounding the “defunding” of students, NSFAS should release publicly the details and information of all those who have been found to be defrauding the scheme.
Minister Nzimande, however, said he notes that the NSFAS Board confirmed that after the re-evaluation of funding, 14 703 applications were reinstated and 31 224 remained ineligible.
NSFAS has been working with the South Africa Social Security Agency and South African Revenue Service, among others, to ascertain who qualifies.
Minister Nzimande warned parents and students against defrauding NSFAS, saying the government will take stern action against all those who defraud the scheme.
He urged those who believe that they have been wrongfully disqualified to use the NSFAS appeal process.
Minister Nzimande gave the NSFAS Board until 30 August 2023, to present to him the report with a plan on how they are going to correct all the challenges regarding the direct payment solution.
Earlier this year in June, the Citizen reported that the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) laid criminal complaints against Nongogo, as well as one of his former colleagues and two others, for fraud and corruption.
The matter relates to Nongogo’s previous employment when he was CEO of the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SSETA).
Rudie Heyneke, portfolio manager at Outa, was quoted by the Citizen as saying the criminal complaints were related to the over-inflation of a specific tender, awarded to Five Star on 22 August 2016.
Nongogo has not publicly responded to the allegations.
