Plan to save the state-run scheme that pays students R55 billion a year

The Administrator of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), Professor Hlengani Mathebula, has submitted his plan to restore stability to the embattled Scheme.

The Stabilisation Plan was submitted to the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, on 4 August 2026, in accordance with the requirements of the Government Gazette.

A collaborative effort between Mathebula’s administration and NSFAS management, the plan details various interventions to restore governance to the Scheme.

This includes a new governance structure which revolves around distinct workstreams that will address key risks, implement corrective measures and resolve operational challenges.

“Co-creation is the only path for my administration, as our tenure is only for a specified period,” Mathebula said. “This means that management and staff must have enough acumen to lead NSFAS post our time.”

The administration said its top priorities included governance, audit and consequence management, student support and accommodation, and stakeholder confidence, among others.

According to Mathebula, NSFAS has been systematically hollowed out over a number of years, while its resources have been simultaneously stripped of the required institutional safeguards.

This has been largely corroborated by the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) intervention in the Scheme, which was authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in August 2022.

Since then, the SIU has recovered more than R2 billion in unallocated and mismanaged funds from higher education institutions, returning R1.7 billion of this directly to NSFAS.

“My administration’s decisive actions against the rot have provoked spirited opposition from those whose interests are being threatened,” Mathebula said.

“We have witnessed an emergence of media attacks fuelled by so-called internal sources who are manipulating the journalistic tradition to drive their own agendas of looting resources earmarked for our children.”

NSFAS was placed under its latest administration on 4 May 2026, the third time that the institution has been placed under administration since 2018.

The Scheme received a disclaimed audit opinion from the Auditor-General of South Africa, highlighting 66 major audit findings and 115 overdue internal audit findings.

Nine material irregularities were flagged at NSFAS, including deceased funding, duplicate grant payouts, unresolved appeals, procurement and tender maladministration, among others.

ICT was identified as the Scheme’s biggest operational risk, with the administration prioritising data analytics measures to improve funding accuracy,  fraud prevention, and more.

Mathebula also identified student accommodation as a high-risk area for NSFAS, both operationally and reputationally, and said it would require tighter control, greater transparency, faster claims processing, and better oversight.

He said students deserve a financial aid scheme that not only meets but exceeds its mandate, and called on stakeholders to work with his administration to rebuild NSFAS and restore public confidence in it.