15 April 2024
Johannesburg, Braamfontein
The Young Communist League of South Africa welcomes the decision to dissolve the NSFAS board and to further place the institution under administration by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Professor Blade Nzimande.
As the YCLSA , we believe that this decision is well thought and considered, given the gross negligence and failure of the outgone board to provide strategic leadership considering the myriad of challenges that had bedevilled NSFAS and most importantly to ensure that it implements the Werksmans report.
The NSFAS funding scheme is too important to fail given that most children from the working class background rely on it for funding. NSFAS also represents one of the progressive democratic government’s decisive interventions in the fight against intergenerational poverty. It is for this very reason that as the YCLSA we are of the strong conviction that NSFAS is too important of an institution for it to be left to fail. That would be a great disservice. As the YCLSA we are cognizant of the fact that students are already experiencing delays to receive their allowances on time for the month of April, as it has been evident in the previous months, in our view this is the outcome of the illegally appointed and incompetent service providers.
It is rather unfortunate that the delays of allowances have an adverse impact on the academic performance and are a trap for students to do most of dehumanising activities to secure subsistence during a long wait for allowance deposit. The dissolved board in this case was unable to find solutions to circumvent the situation which in most cases left students frustrated and as a result despondent. This is although the institution was mired with gross maleficence, grand corruption and also the inability of the Board to carry out its responsibilities. In this case, they are as follows: The inability to fully implement the recommendations of the Werksmans The report, key among which is the termination of the contracts of the direct payment service providers, who had been appointed irregularly; The consistent inability to oversee the payment of student allowances timeously by management, which has resulted in unnecessary stress for students and their parents, and also continues to threaten the very stability of some of our TVET Colleges and Universities; The inability to resubmit a corrected Annual Report to Parliament; The inability to manage and finalise the close-out report; The inability to address very serious and glaring capacity deficiencies within the organisation, including the call centre, which is still not functional; The consistent inability to respond to student queries in a timeous and efficient manner; and The inability to consult widely on the guidelines for the Missing Middle Funding and the related inability to implement the Missing Middle solution. In light of this reality and the outright failure of the board to perform according to the expected outcomes. As the YCLSA we wish to also welcome the decision by the Ministry of Higher Education to appoint an administrator for NSFAS.
We wish Mr Sithembiso Freeman Nomvalo, well on his appointment he brings with him to the institution a wealth of knowledge given his 25 years of working experience, 17 of which were senior level both in the public and private sector. He also possesses extensive knowledge and an impeccable track record in public finance and government processes. We wish that Mr Sthembiso can stabilise the institution and resolve the wide varying issues that have plagued NSFAS.
As the YCLSA we wish to commend the Department of Higher Education and training for thwarting the corrupt and dysfunctional board that failed to resolve the student issues, which has serious implications in ensuring that the students receive their allowances on time and that there is smooth teaching and learning to taking place in our institutions.
Statement Ends//
Issued by YCLSA
National Secretary- Mzwandile Thakhudi
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