By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Ernest Khosa has resigned as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson.
The Department of Higher Education made the announcement in a statement on Thursday.
Khosa took a leave of absence in January, after the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) released a series of audio recordings implicating him, the Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande in alleged corruption and financial mismanagement at the student financial aid scheme.
Nzimande denies the accusation.
The scheme’s CEO had since been receiving mounting calls for Khosa to resign and for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Nzimande.
Nzimande issued a statement on Thursday afternoon announcing Khosa’s resignation, wishing him well in his future endeavours.
The rest of the minister’s statement, addressed the issue of non-payment of student allowances by Nsfas.
“Given the magnitude of this problem and its negative impact on the well-being of students and the continued functioning of our post-school education and training system, in the next few days, the minister will be taking a series of additional and decisive steps, all of which are intended to have the problem of non-payment of allowances resolved as a matter of priority,” the statement read.
Nzimande has instructed Nsfas to immediately establish a task team that will visit all TVET colleges and universities where students are experiencing serious problems.
Against valid registration records received on 15 March, the department said Nsfas has paid disbursements for university and TVET college students in respect of the 2024 academic cycle.
For the latest payment cycle, Nsfas has paid TVET college students allowances and tuition to the value of R511 106 120 in total, according to the department.
For universities, the department said Nsfas has paid allowances and tuition to the value of R2.3 billion.
“Regrettably, not all TVET colleges and universities have complies with the Nsfas deadline of 15 March 2024 for the submission of student registration data to facilitate the payment of allowances. The failures to comply by some TVET colleges and universities has contributed to the latest sporadic student protest,” the statement said.
Nzimande apologised to all affected students for the inconvenience as a result of the nonpayment of allowances.