• The National Skills Fund, which provides billions in Rands to NSFAS, is being investigated by the SIU.
• Per the unit, the investigation will focus on alleged corruption and mismanagement at the fund, especially in how it procures tenders.
• The fund’s dealings in the Ekurhuleni West and other TVET colleges will be included in the investigation.

South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU) says it has started an investigation into “allegations of corruption and maladministration” of the goings of the National Skills Fund, a public entity that is supposed to provide funding for skills development initiatives in South Africa, usually in the forms of bursaries and scholarships.

A considerable portion of the entity’s budget is paid to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), the country’s largest public bursary scheme that funds nearly one million students through their tertiary education.

According to a statement from the SIU, the investigation into the National Skills Fund will primarily be focused on the “procurement and contracting for the implementation of skills development programmes, training projects, and the appointment of implementing agents for the following projects.”

This includes such programmes such as the Centre for Education Policy Development, which is being earmarked for alleged fruitless and wasteful expenditure and numerous others across South Africa, including the Dual System Apprenticeship Pilot Project from the Port Elizabeth TVET College, the Ingewe TVET College, the Ekurhuleni West TVET College and others.

“The SIU will investigate any unauthorised, irregular, fruitless, or wasteful expenditure by the NSF or the Department,” it said, adding “The scope of the investigation includes any unlawful or improper conduct by suppliers, service providers, and other involved parties, occurring between 1 January 2013 and 28 March 2025, or related matters before or after this period.”

As this investigation comes into alleged corruption and wasteful spending of tax-payer funds, the National Skills Fund is set to be a major financier of the Department of Higher Education and Training’s planned missing middle fund which is expected to be worth billions in investments from government to fund hundreds of thousands of students by 2035.

In 2025, around 17 000 people applied for the missing middle bursary scheme, which is still in the early phases of implementation.

Unlike NSFAS that is catered for poor and underprivileged individuals only, the missing middle scheme is aimed at funding the studies either fully or partly of technically middle class individuals who may not have the household income to study at university but have just enough not to be able to meet the NSFAS criteria.

Last year, the National Skills Fund said that R1 billion in taxpayer monies had been paid to NSFAS to fund missing middle students. This is not the first time that NSFAS has been roped into an investigation into alleged corruption and mismanagement of funds.

Aside from investigating the fund, the SIU says it will also be sleuthing the deals of the entire Department of Public Works and infrastructure.