NSFAS Board Collapse

Statement by Dr Delmaine Christians MP – DA Spokesperson on Higher Education and Training:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned by the effective collapse of the Board of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), a critical lifeline for hundreds of thousands of South African students. This failure strikes at the heart of access to higher education.

The DA notes the announcement by Buti Manamela confirming a wave of resignations from the NSFAS Board, including interim Chairperson Dr Mugwena Maluleke.

This is not an isolated incident. It reflects a full-scale breakdown of governance at one of the most important institutions in the country’s higher education system.

The continued exodus of board members, following earlier resignations this year, has rendered the Board unable to function effectively. This raises serious legal and governance concerns about its ability to fulfil its fiduciary responsibilities.

Despite repeated engagements in the Portfolio Committee, no credible or transparent turnaround plan for NSFAS has been presented to Parliament. This points to a crisis being managed without direction or urgency.

Recent revelations, including payments made to deceased beneficiaries and funding allocated to thousands of ineligible recipients, have already exposed severe weaknesses in NSFAS’s data integrity, verification systems, and financial controls.

These failures are compounded by fragmented ICT systems that cannot verify beneficiaries in real time, an over-reliance on external “solution partners” while internal systems remain weak, duplicated verification processes with no clear accountability, and poor integration between NSFAS, institutions, and national data systems.

NSFAS has now reached a point where decisive intervention is unavoidable.

While governance collapses at the top, it is students who bear the consequences forced into unsafe or unaccredited accommodation, left without food and transport allowances, and facing uncertainty at the start of each academic year.

The Minister must be held accountable for stabilising NSFAS and restoring its ability to serve students effectively.

The DA will formally request an urgent full briefing to the Portfolio Committee, clear timelines on the reconstitution of the NSFAS Board, and concrete accountability measures for those responsible for repeated failures.

South Africa cannot afford a student funding system that fails the very people it is meant to support.