By Lehlohonlo Lehana.
The High Court in Pretoria has suspended the appointment of Prof Hlengani Mathebula as National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) administrator, and ordered the reinstatement of the disbanded board.
This comes after the NSFAS board dragged Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela to court over his decision to dissolve the board, place the scheme under administration on 4 May and appoint Mathebula under section 17A(1)(b) of the NSFAS Act.
Manamela had defended the intervention, saying legal advice obtained by his department found that the board’s composition did not comply with the NSFAS Act. He told Parliament that three student-nominated positions were vacant and that a nominee from the finance minister had not been appointed.
The minister also cited governance and operational problems at NSFAS, including board resignations, a disclaimer audit opinion, unresolved student appeals and concerns about the scheme’s systems and internal controls.
Mathebula had been appointed for 24 months or until a new board was appointed.
In his three-month tenure, Mathebula has been embroiled in scandal involving expensive hotel bookings and adviser appointments and faced scrutiny in Parliament.
Judge Etienne Labuschagne ordered the immediate reinstatement of the remaining seven NSFAS board members to govern the R54-billion scheme, pending the final review of the case later this year.
“The appointment of the second respondent [Mathebula] as administrator of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in terms of section 17A(1)(b) of Act 56 of 1999 (the “Act”) by the first respondent on 4 May 2026 is suspended pending finalisation of Part B,” said Labuschagne.
Judge Labuschagne made findings regarding both the procedural rationality of the minister’s decision and the suitability of Mathebula to oversee tens of billions in public funds.
The court also authorised and directed the applicants to continue with the management, governance and administration of NSFAS and perform its functions pending the final determination of Part B.
Meanwhile Equal Education, Youth Capital, and student leaders from different universities and TVET colleges across the country demand greater accountability and improved performance from NSFAS, following a tense day of student mobilisation that ultimately forced the Scheme to engage with the young people it had committed to meeting.