OUTA welcomes the NSFAS board’s decision to accept and implement the findings and recommendations of the Werksmans report on the NSFAS direct payment scheme
OUTA welcomes the NSFAS board’s decision to accept and implement the findings and recommendations of the Werksmans report on the NSFAS direct payment scheme. The report not only recommends that NSFAS CEO Andile Nongogo should be fired, but also that the services of the four companies allegedly handpicked by him should be terminated.
The new payment scheme was introduced in June 2023. Coinvest Africa (registered in 2019), Tenet Technology (registered in 2013 but dormant until 2021*), Norraco Corporation (registered in 2019) and eZaga Holdings were appointed to pay allowances to NSFAS students.
As pressure mounted from OUTA as well as students not receiving their allowances, the NSFAS board appointed Werksmans Attorneys and Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi to investigate the allegations of irregularities with the tender process.
Advocate Stefanie Fick, director of OUTA’s accountability division, says OUTA is delighted that the NSFAS board is finally taking action. “Transparency is key in a democratic society. We look forward to reading the full report,” says Fick.
Fick says the report not only vindicates students who complained about the scheme not functioning properly, but also confirms OUTA’s findings of corruption and mismanagement at NSFAS. “When OUTA first exposed corruption with the awarding of tenders for the direct payment of students’ allowances, NSFAS denied the allegations and threatened legal action. This report therefore also signifies an important win for accountability and transparency. It proves yet again how important the voices of civil society are, and also explains the blatant attacks on NGOs in an attempt to silence us,” she says.
The Werksmans report not only found that there was an existing relationship between Nongogo and two of the service providers (eZaga and Coinvest Africa), but also that Nongogo participated in the procurement process, and that tender requirements were changed to allow these specific fintech companies to submit their bids.
Changing specifications resulted in “drastic changes in the mandatory requirements of the original tender”. Changing bid specifications and cancelling a previous tender would have “required deeper analysis to be conducted”, something which was not done. The report also notes that no thorough due diligence was undertaken before appointing the service providers.
Nongogo’s action is described as “a material violation of public procurement processes of NSFAS which he was employed to safeguard and uphold”.
In addition to all of this, Nongogo also appointed Dr George Chirwa to assist the Bid Evaluation Committee as a technical advisor. “This appointment was inherently incorrect, as the 2021 SCM Policy does not provide for the appointment of an expert to the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC),” the report states. Specific mention was made of Chirwa’s association with certain companies that were appointed as service providers, both at the Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SSETA), where Nongogo served as CEO until July 2018, and at NSFAS.
The chairperson of the NSFAS Board says the recommendations of the report will be implemented with immediate effect. Nongogo must give reasons why his services should not be terminated, while all staff members involved with wrongdoing will face disciplinary action. The contracts of the four service providers will be terminated, and NSFAS will review its Supply Chain Management Policy, in line with the National Treasury regulations and policies, and the Public Finance Management Act.
According to Rudie Heyneke, head of investigations at OUTA, the organisation had previously warned that Nongogo should not be allowed near the public purse. “Earlier this year, we also uncovered massive irregularities that took place on Andile Nongogo’s watch at the Services SETA. He is a seasoned public official and a chartered accountant who should have known better than to blatantly ignore legal prescripts,” says Heyneke.
OUTA uncovered an extremely overpriced rebranding campaign that cost taxpayers R37 million at the Services SETA. The invoices were signed off by Nongogo, who was the Services SETA CEO at the time. In June, OUTA laid criminal complaints against Nongogo and others and lodged a formal complaint against Nongogo with the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants (SAICA).
“Students suffered the most because of the irregularities that took place, yet their pleas to NSFAS fell on deaf ears, as did OUTA’s requests for access to all the relevant information. We repeatedly warned that this scheme would negatively impact on students who can least afford it, while costing the country millions if allowed to continue. Yet all attempts to share what our investigations uncovered with NSFAS or Minister Blade Nzimande were ignored,” says Heyneke.
According to Heyneke, the Werksmans report is not the solution to all of NSFAS’ current problems. “There are huge concerns regarding student accommodation and if NSFAS will be ready for the 2024 academic year,” he says.
In addition, the Special Investigating Unit is still busy with its investigation into NSFAS which could expose more irregularities.
Fick says it is time for Nzimande to resign. “We need ethical leadership to protect the interests of our country’s youth. From what we have uncovered so far in Higher Education, it is clear that Minister Nzimande is not the right man for the job,” says Fick.
OUTA hopes that the investigation report will also provide answers to the questions posed by the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation that were never answered by NSFAS and/or the service providers.
Czr
A British man on safari walks into a bar far out in the reaches of a game reserve in Southern Africa, he stays at the bar for a while shooting the shit with the bartender and drinking like a fish, he offer to buy the barkeep a round and since no one else is within 2km of their small oasis of liquor the barkeep obliges. The englishman goes off to the bathroom to have a good old go at the porcelain, he\’s back and ready for a few more whiskeys. He\’s just sat down when suddenly in the distance he hears a scream. He looks over his shoulder and dismisses it as nothing, he turns to the barkeep and orders a drink, takes a sip and hears the scream again. He looks at the barkeep who just shrugs it off. A minute or two later he and the barman hear it again and go outside to take a look. They see a lone figure running towards them screaming, he spots them and lets out a cry, RUN!!!!! HE\”S COMING!!!!!
The barkeep and the Englishman both look at the terrified bedraggled sight before them, and try to calm him down, but he\’s completely inconsolable. They give him water and finally manage to get a word out of him but he struggles free from their grasp and run away screaming.
A few minutes later the same thing happens with a whole group of men running in and screaming, he\’s coming, he\’s coming the barkeep grabs hold of one of the men as he tries to sprint past the bar and tries to get information out of him, again no response other than terrified gibberish.
The barkeep and his customer are starting to get worried, they start to pack up before another group of horrified natives run up to the bar most of them flee but one tries to hide behind the bar, the barkeep pulls out a shotgun and points it at the terrified man\’s face, finally managing to coax some words out of him. \”He\’s coming for us, Vernon Koekemoer is coming for us, we have to hide!!! We have to get out of here.\” He gets up and tries to run but the barkeep grabs him, feeling trapped in a panic he grabs the barkeeps shotgun and blows his own head off. The Englishman and the barkeep look at each other starting to really panic now.
They look out of the window and off in the distance they see a tornado coming towards the bar, at the bottom of the tornado they see the hugest beast of a man they have ever seen, as he gets closer they spot that he is riding a rhinocerous and using a crocodile as a riding whip, with each smack of the crocodile across the back of the rhino the louder is screams and the faster it runs, the tornado following it getting ever larger.
The 2 look at each other and start to fortify their position, they\’ve got a gun and they\’re waaay to drunk to run, so they start piling bar stool and tables and anything they can get their hands on to make sure they\’ll be safe when he arrives. They\’re not gonna make it, they can see the man slowing down his rhino, by now the crocodile is nothing but reptile paste on the bruised rump of the half dead rhino, the rhino drops down dead from exhaustion and crashes to the ground right outside the bar the tornado loses it\’s last breath in a cloud of dust as the huge man crashes his way through the make shift barricade and charges up towards the bar where the 2 men have taken shelter, he grabs a bottle of the hardest liquor on the shelf and down the entire litre in 1 gulp, he peers over the bar sobbing and sees the 2 defenders cowering down behind the crates of beer, they look up at the mans\’ face and he stares at them with a look of complete and utter hopelessness, he stares at them for a half second and half screams, half sobs, \”Oh my god what are you still doing here!!! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!! Vernon Koekemoer is coming!!!!\”
Cosmo
Which unit describes the intensity of light in South Africa? Nelson Candela