Parliament, Thursday, 13 August 2026 – The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has noted as deeply concerning that the Administrator of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) did not wait for the Minister of Higher Education and the Minister of Finance to agree on the remuneration of his advisors, instead effected payments for their services.
The committee yesterday received a briefing on progress made by the administrator, Professor Hlengani Mathebula, following the decision of the Minister of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Mr Buti Manamela on 4 May 2026 to place NSFAS under administration. During the engagement with both DHET and NSFAS, the committee sought clarity on whether approval from the Minister of Finance was received on the remuneration and allowances as required by the NSFAS ACT.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Tebogo Letsie, said it was clear that the manner in which the process was followed was both legally and procedurally flawed. “I therefore recommend that this matter be carefully examined and we want the Minister to take action against the administrator for his actions that are totally against the mandate given to him of turning NSFAS around,” said Mr Letsie.
“We have concluded that payments made to these advisors was flawed and therefore recommend that they pay back all the monies received as remuneration with immediate effect,” added Mr Letsie.
The administrator told the committee that on remuneration of his four advisors some were paid via their bank accounts and others chose to use their companies to receive payments. The committee said this was concerning as NSFAS Supply chain advised the administrator regarding procedures for payments to companies.
Mr Letsie told the administrator that the advice given to him by NSFAS’s supply chain when they gave advice to him regarding payments. “You have wasted an hour on something you could have just admitted was wrong in the first place. It’s an unnecessary debate that we have engaged in when we could have move to other issues,” said Mr Letsie.
The committee recommended that in cases where the Higher Education Minister does not get concurrence from the Minister of Finance there must be mechanisms to bridge the gap and there should be evidence that prove that approvals were sought and not received.
Minister Manamela told the committee that his department was doing its best to try and turn NSFAS around and that he was aware about hundreds of students whose appeals are still outstanding. He further said there were challenges with the loan schemes, ICT and data issues and that the Department and NSFAS were addressing both immediate student-facing problems and historical systemic weaknesses.
Prof Mathebula said he has shifted NSFAS from an institution-centred model to four regional service hubs within existing budget constraints and that accommodation payments have been taken back in-house from Solution Partners. Prof Matheubula further said 61,5% of the university allocations and 59,2% of the TVET allocations had been paid, however the major unresolved pressure remains the R10.49 billion in 2026 tuition owed to universities.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING, MR TEBOGO LETSIE.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Mr Jabulani Majozi (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Cell: 083 358 5224
Email: jamajozi@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour