• South Africa’s anti-corruption task force has reported a recovery of over R33 million in illegally invested NSFAS funds.
• NSFAS funds are directed by the government to aid students in the country pay for their tuition, accommodation and other costs associated with tertiary education.
• Northlink College in the Western Cape allegedly invested over R33 million before contacting the SIU about the maladministered funds.

Today, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of South Africa reported that it has recovered R33.5 million from the Northlink College in the Western Cape as part of ongoing investigations in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

According to the SIU’s official Twitter account, this marks the first recovery of government money since the signing of Proclamation R88.

The SIU has recovered R33 489 884.37 from Northlink College in the Western Cape as part of its National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) investigations. This is the first actual recovery of government money since the signing of Proclamation R88 of 2022 on Friday,26 August '22 pic.twitter.com/bvdPvcH0Ok

— Special Investigating Unit (SIU) (@RSASIU) November 15, 2022

South Africa’s anti-corruption task force was, as of August 2022, permitted to investigate (PDF) the NSFAS as part of the proclamation.

Especially in connection with “serious maladministration in connection with the affairs of the NSFAS” and the “unlawful appropriation and expenditure of public money or property” as the scheme is a publicly-funded one.

Northlink College, a technical and vocational tertiary institution, reportedly contacted the task force after it had received over R33 million in NSFAS payments and invested it without prior authorisation.

The SIU does not include what the college made the investments in but since the government allocates NSFAS funds for students, usage of the funds for college infrastructure or similar without prior authorisation would be illegal.

Luckily, Northlink reached out to the SIU to pay back the money, in a similar fashion to recent efforts by EOH in its dealings with the anti-corruption enforcer.

“The TVET college stated to the SIU that it is fully aware that the funds should have been returned to the NSFAS, but Northlink College has failed to do so, and instead decided to invest the funds and would return the funds on request from NSFAS,” it said.

However, the SIU says it will be calculating interest owed by the college from when the investments were initially made. Such interest would have to be paid into the SIU Trust Account.

“The SIU is in terms of Proclamation R88 of 2022 authorised by the President to investigate allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of NSFAS, and to recover any financial losses suffered by the State through corruption and negligence,” the task force added.

NSFAS applications for 2023 opened in September this year and were almost immediately onset by scams. The scheme assists students in their studies for the upcoming year with necessary funding for tuition, accommodations, food, travel and study materials such as textbooks.