Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela says NSFAS’s financial, governance and operational challenges must be urgently addressed.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane / IOL
Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has called for urgent attention to NSFAS’s financial, governance and operational challenges as the scheme transitions from administration to interim arrangements ordered by the court.
Manamela made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with members of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board in Gauteng, with discussions focused on implementing an interim court order issued on August 14, 2026.
The meeting comes amid growing concerns over NSFAS’s financial position, payments to institutions, student funding administration and preparations for the 2027 academic year.
Minister warns challenges cannot be ignored
Manamela said the court order had changed NSFAS’s governance arrangements but did not remove the problems that prompted his decision to place the scheme under administration.
He said the priority was to ensure NSFAS emerged from the current period with stronger systems and controls.
“Our task therefore is not to pretend that nothing happened but rather to ensure that the systems, controls and governance arrangements of NSFAS are strengthened,” Manamela said.
The minister said the challenges facing NSFAS had developed over time and included serious institutional, governance, financial and operational weaknesses.
“As we move forward, we must also be honest about the circumstances that brought us to this point. The challenges that led to my intervention to place NSFAS under administration did not arise overnight,” he said.
Financial position and institutional payments under scrutiny
Among the immediate issues identified by Manamela are NSFAS’s financial position and amounts allegedly owed to institutions.
“There are significant questions concerning the financial position of NSFAS and amounts owing to institutions,” he said.
He also highlighted concerns around student funding decisions, operational systems, audit remediation and preparations for the 2027 academic year.
Manamela said uncertainty over funding and delays in payments to institutions had consequences beyond individual students.
“NSFAS occupies a critical position in our post-school education and training system. It provides financial assistance to hundreds of thousands of students across our universities and TVET colleges,” he said.
“Its effectiveness therefore has consequences not only for individual students, but also for institutions and for the functioning of the higher education and training system as a whole.”
Public Protector findings require follow-up
The minister also pointed to findings and recommendations made by the Public Protector, saying these must be taken seriously.
“These concerns have also been reflected in various oversight and accountability processes, including the recent findings and recommendations of the Public Protector,” Manamela said.
“Those findings require serious consideration and appropriate follow-up by all of us within our respective mandates.”
Manamela stressed that the meeting was not intended to reopen the legal dispute surrounding NSFAS.
“Let me state clearly that the intention is not to revisit the litigation today. The pending proceedings will follow their appropriate legal course,” he said.
“Today’s discussion is about the functioning of NSFAS in the period immediately ahead.”
He said the immediate objective was to establish a clear picture of NSFAS’s current position and agree on a credible way forward.
“We do not need to resolve every issue in this room today. What we do need to achieve is a clear understanding of the current position and a credible way forward,” Manamela said.
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