The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has suspended its Chief Executive Officer Steven Zwane with immediate effect, following allegations of maladministration.
“To ensure fairness and allow the process to proceed uninhibited, Mr Zwane has been relieved from his duties pending the outcome of the investigation,” NSFAS said in a statement.
NSFAS Administrator Randall Carolissen is in the process of reviewing governance at NSFAS.
“This is in line with the Ministerial mandate to oversee the management, governance, and administration of the entity. This includes all necessary forensic and other investigations currently underway,” the scheme said.
Zwane’s suspension follows shortly after board chairperson Sizwe Nxasana resigned early this month, citing "extreme strain" on the NSFAS payments system after former President Jacob Zuma in December announced free higher education, as a reason.
Last week, Cabinet said Carolissen was appointed to stabilise and decisively address the challenges faced by the NSFAS in the disbursement of funds to deserving students.
“The Administrator together with the management will work towards dealing decisively with backlogs and other challenges facing the entity so as to ensure student funding is administered optimally for 2019, and that all outstanding issues for 2017 and 2018 are resolved,” Cabinet said. – SAnews.gov.za
