Call for NSFAS to implement strong vetting

Uproar after decision to withdraw funding

A CALL has been made for strong internal vetting systems to be implemented following a decision by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to withdraw the funding of 5 000 students.

NSFAS announced that funding for the 5 000 students was cut for the 2020 academic year, following financial information obtained from South African Revenue Service (Sars) which revealed that the affected students declared a total household family income above the R350 000 threshold to qualify for funding.

NSFAS administrator Randall Carolissen said all affected students had been notified of their funding status and the process they should follow.

“The affected students will have 14 days from the date of issue to petition this decision by submitting proof of family income or change of income to NSFAS for review,” he said.

Carolissen said the scheme was not yet able to determine how many students were affected in KwaZulu-Natal.

“We are still awaiting petitions and submission to determine students whose funding will be reinstated.”

He said NSFAS reserved the right to correct funding decisions based on its financial eligibility verification processes.

Carolissen said NSFAS has previously collected information using credit bureaus to verify income, and were currently utilising data and services of Sars

“This partnership has yielded a lot of positive results, where we are able to detect income verification.”

He added that NSFAS would continue to review students’ information should their household income exceed the threshold.

Carolissen said NSFAS would recoup funds from students who were attempting to defraud the scheme by misrepresenting their financial status.

“Should we suspect any fraudulent cases, we will act accordingly,” he said.

Normah Zondo, the acting executive director of the UKZN corporate relations division, confirmed that 103

UKZN students were affected by the funding withdrawal.

“All students who feel that they have been incorrectly unfunded have the option to appeal to NSFAS to review the income used to determine their status of being unfunded.”

UKZN student representative council (SRC) president Sifiso Simelane said the SRC were against the action taken by NSFAS, to suddenly withdraw funding for the academic year.

Simelane said institutions across the country were warned that this situation could happen.

The issue of implementing a strong support system in terms of counselling and strong internal control systems had been raised he said.

Simelane said the decision was abrupt and an appeal time frame of 14 days would be difficult under Covid-19 conditions.

“The poor performance of internal controls of our institutions, be it Sars, NSFAS, Sassa or Home Affairs, needs to be looked into closely because we can’t have students being victimised again and being excluded during the year,” he said.

He said there was a war within the middle class, as there were financially deserving students who need funding but they fall in the R350 000 to R600 000 category.

Durban University of Technology SRC president Njabulo Sangweni encouraged DUT students to send their documents to IncomeReview@nsfas.org.za for income renewal.

“Those who were unfairly excluded must get their funding back,” he said.

The Ministry of Higher Education had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.

“We can’t have students being victimised again and being excluded

Sifiso Simelane UKZN SRC PRESIDENT