R14m student now living in fear
THE life of under-fire Walter Sisulu University student Sibongile Mani, implicated in a R14-million student loan saga, is in danger and the student is living in fear.
This was the message delivered by Africanist and “Outsourcing Must Fall” leader Vusi Mahlangu, during a media briefing organised by Buffalo City campus branch of the PAC student body Pasma. Mani is the branch secretary.
Mahlangu accused WSU management of putting Mani in danger.
“We had to put security measures in place to assist her.
“This is all because the university, which was supposed to protect her, gave away all her personal records, including her photos, address and private information, which can only be accessed from the registry offices.”
Pasma again shielded their secretary and would not let her speak.
She was on the panel, arriving 30 minutes into the briefing.
Mahlangu blamed the blunder on WSU, NSFAS and Intellimali.
“At the heart of it there is an inherently corrupt outsourcing system and chaos in National Student Financial Aid Scheme [NSFAS],” said Somelele Nogadlela, the Pasma branch spokesman.
The press briefing was on the streets outside campus after WSU allegedly refused to let them use the conference venue. Nogadlela said: “The institution said they had already issued a statement on the matter and therefore didn’t recognise our press briefing. Their statement puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of Mani.”
Pasma also slammed the university for immediately deciding that Mani should pay up without being proven guilty of fraud in court.
Pasma also ripped into service provider Intellimali, a company that distributes money to students. He said a senior executive of Intellimali was a former NSFAS employee – suggesting impropriety. —