SIU applauds University of Johannesburg for returning R311m

The University of Johannesburg has returned R311 million to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which is investigating corruption and maladministration at the Scheme, welcomed the payment on Tuesday, 2 May.

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UJ PAYS BACK UNALLOCATED FUNDS

The R311 million paid by the university is made up of unallocated student funds from 2016 to 2021. The unallocated money was meant for students who qualified but either changed universities or deregistered. The money is meant to stay in possession of the institution for a year.

After the payment, the amount of money recovered from tertiary institutions stands at approximately R349.3 million since the launch of the SIU investigation in September 2022.

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“The SIU encourages all institutions of higher learning to come forward and pay back unallocated funds that are due to NSFAS,” said Unit spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

SIU UNCOVERED A LACK OF A PROPER RECONCILIATION PROCESS

The unallocated money is meant to be collected by NSFAS at the end of each year through reconciliation. However, the SIU investigation found that the Scheme failed to set up a process that would ensure this annual reconciliation takes place.

“To remedy this, NSFAS has recently appointed a service provider to assist them to perform this reconciliation in a process called ‘close out reporting’,” said Kganyago.

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