Daily Dispatch
Forensic probe a breakthrough
NEWS that a forensic investigator has been appointed to probe what happened at IntelliMali – the service provider that transferred R14-million into the account of a Walter Sisulu University (WSU) student – is a welcome development.
This is a breakthrough because there are still many unanswered questions about how such a transaction was processed and remained undetected for 73 days.
The amount was almost half of the R25million that the National Students and Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) transferred to IntelliMali to distribute as food and book vouchers to hundreds of needy students.
This newspaper reported that the money was meant to be divided among students who are NSFAS beneficiaries, where they would each receive a monthly R1 400 food voucher as well as a once-off R2 000 credit for books. But for some reason, someone at IntelliMali transferred almost half of that allocation to the instant student millionaire Sibongile Mani – who splashed more than R800 000 of it on expensive imported weaves, iPhone 7s and parties for her friends – and yet no one detected the bizarre outflow.
As pictures of a partying Mani and her friends went viral, where the cheapest bottle on the tables cost R700, it was IntelliMali who announced they would open a case of theft against the student.
Last week a criminal case was laid against her. But the decision to charge Mani has left only more questions than answers.
Nothing has been said about the official who made the “error” or even the accountant or financial officer who missed this glaring discrepancy in the company’s books.
IntelliMali must be transparent and tell us who transferred the millions to the student’s card. In trying to answer this key question, NSFAS‚ WSU and IntelliMali released a joint statement on Saturday morning, saying that “following preliminary assessments‚ NSFAS and WSU can confirm that no employee on either part has been found to have been involved in the erroneous crediting of the R14.1-million into the student’s IntelliCard account”.
“IntelliMalli has appointed a credible audit firm to institute a forensic investigation into the matter. IntelliMali‚ NSFAS and WSU believe that the forensic investigation is the only way to get to the bottom of the matter and have committed to participating fully with the process. Upon the conclusion of investigation‚ the parties have committed to implementing the findings and sharing them with all relevant stakeholders‚” the three parties announced.
Hopefully those stakeholders include the entire student community and the public at large. IntelliMali’s decision to do the forensic investigation to examine the flaws within its own systems is crucial because the public wants assurance that the taxpayers’ money that is pumped into NSFAS every year goes to its intended beneficiaries.
It is important that these funds go to the needy students and that they are managed efficiently so that deserving students can benefit. IntelliMali has to get to the bottom of the matter and provide more answers so that everyone can concentrate on the crucial matter at hand – ensuring that students have access to education.