• NSFAS’ out of date ICT systems make it an easy target for cybercriminals, leadership at the scheme has admitted.
• The Higher Education Minister says the scheme is now looking for ways it can rebuild itself, but it as of yet has no strategies.
• Last week, the scheme fired a number of employees implicated in a missing R2.5 billion.

Addressing the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in Parliament on the situation around the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) last week, Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane said that from her observations, the scheme lacks capacity and “there is no way we can deliver in terms of our constitutional obligation.”

One of the largest problems facing the scheme is its out-of-date ICT systems, which have allowed flagrant fraud and have made the system, which has a budget of over R52 billion, vulnerable to cyber attacks.

NSFAS administrator Freeman Nomvalo admitted the same to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training in August.

He said that the student financial scheme does not possess credible student data and that its old ICT systems are vulnerable to cybercriminals – potentially an enormous problem for the scheme.

“The committee recommend that NSFAS needs to ensure that it strengthens its ICT systems as a matter of urgency to curb student data falling into the wrong hands,” wrote the Parliament of South Africa in a release.

Minister Nkbane says that the administration of the scheme, financing the higher education of over one million students, still does not have a strategy in mind for a turnaround. Over the last year, NSFAS’ faulty ICT systems have caused delays for students to receive their funds.

In August, NSFAS staff had to manually conduct verification checks on student applications to proceed with the sending of funds – a task that Nomvalo said was “impossible.” A problem with the system in September saw NSFAS postpone the launch of the 2025 online applications window.

It is seemingly a matter of time before NSFAS is attacked like Transnet or the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS).

Alleged corruption runs deep at ailing NSFAS

Nkabane told the committee that she had removed a number of employees who were implicated in a report detailing a missing R2.5 billion from the scheme in two financial years.

“We’re committed to fighting corruption and addressing misconduct. I’m pushing hard to enforce consequence management at the entity. Yesterday, we had a session where those implicated in the investigation by the Nexus Forensic Report have been removed from office with immediate effect,” she explained.

In 2023, former CEO Andile Nongogo was removed from employment after it was alleged that he had hired companies he was involved in to facilitate the direct payment method to students.

[Image – @myNSFAS on X]