Is Blade taking his knife to a gunfight?
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has defiantly rejected allegations of corruption and kickbacks, as leaked voice recordings surrounding the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) intensify calls for accountability and transparency in South Africa's education sector.
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By Chris Steyn
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has come out waving his sword at The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) over the release of its investigation report on leaked voice recordings in which the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) debacle is discussed by three people.
OUTA has identified two of those as Dr Ernest Khosa, the chairperson of the NSFAS board and Thula Ntumba whose wife, Tshegofatso Ntumba, is a director of Coinvest, one of the service providers appointed in 2022 to handle the payment of NSFAS student allowances.
The recordings contain allegations that service providers allegedly paid millions of rand in kickbacks to Nzimande and Khosa, as well as at least R1 million to the South African Communist Party (SACP) in return for tenders and protection for service providers.
However, Nzimande charges that there is an "intention to tarnish my image and that of my Department and government".
So, instead of heading widespread calls for his resignation, Nzimande is fighting the allegations – and has vowed to "refute the related distortions".
Here are some of the highlights in the statements and counter-statements made by Nzimande and OUTA:
Threats of Legal Action:
Minister Nzimande: "I reserve my rights to take the necessary legal action and I have voluntarily decided that I am going to subject myself to the relevant legal processes and ethics bodies of the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). I wish to once again state that I have nothing to hide or fear."
OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage: "We note that Minister Nzimande has indicated possible legal action. We will defend any legal action taken against us in this regard, as we take our work seriously and do not disseminate reports and statements that we cannot substantiate."
Alleged kickbacks:
Minister Nzimande: "I have never used any money from any of my Department's entities for the purpose of funding the South African Communist Party (SACP), as maliciously suggested in the OUTA report. Nor have I received any personal kickbacks from any of the service providers to NSFAS or any of the other entities falling under my departments.
"I therefore wish to dismiss this baseless insinuation by OUTA, some organisations, including some sections of the media, that I as Minister was involved in some form of corruption at NSFAS. These are all lies that emanate from a malicious fight back campaign. My conscience is clear…"
OUTA Head of Investigations Rudie Heyneke: OUTA reiterates that it has never claimed that Nzimande paid funds from NSFAS to the SACP. OUTA believes Minister Nzimande is deliberately skirting around the issues raised by OUTA's report and the claims made by Ntumba in the recordings.
"Our report clearly states that Mr A (Ntumba) said the following: 'I gave him a million rands for the Communist Party. Just imagine. For the conference. When there was nothing. I donated with the very same company that created T-shirts last year together with the bags'.
"The question that Minister Nzimande needs to directly answer is whether the SACP benefited with cash or services worth R1 million for its 2022 conference from any NSFAS service provider or individual linked to such a service provider."
The "agenda" behind the leaks:
Minister Nzimande: "It is our view that the allegations against me as Minister and the attacks on the chairperson of the NSFAS board, Mr. Khosa, are part of a nefarious fight-back campaign that is linked to success and measure I have taken to fight corruption and ensure clean governance at NSFAS. This campaign includes threats to the life and person of the NSFAS Chairperson.
"It is our view therefore that the leaked recordings are part of a nefarious fight- back campaign that is meant to undermine and frustrate the decision of the NSFAS Board to start with the legal proceedings to terminate the contracts of these four direct payment solution service providers, as recommended by the Werksmans report.
"We are also of the view that the publishing of this report and leaking of the recording is calculated to disrupt the smooth start to the academic year and have no regard for the plight and well being of poor and working class students."
OUTA: OUTA points out that it exposed irregularities with the tender process through which Coinvest Africa (Pty) Ltd, Tenet Technology (Pty) Ltd, Ezaga Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Norraco Corporation (Pty) Ltd were appointed as early as October 2022, but not without first writing to the NSFAS board, "who ignored our requests for further information through a PAIA application".
In December 2023 it shared its student accommodation report with NSFAS and the Minister's office, and only received acknowledgement of receipt from NSFAS. "We are still waiting for any response from the Minister's office."
Despite OUTA's warnings to NSFAS that their system will result in problems and extra costs for students, "they went ahead and implemented it in July 2023".
OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage: OUTA takes exception to Minister Nzimande's claims that the organisation "serves the interests of the elite".
"Saying that we have no regard for the poor and that we want to disrupt the start of the academic year is disingenuous. OUTA is a civil action organisation, supported and funded by ordinary citizens, in the quest to expose those involved in corruption and/or maladministration of our country's very limited resources and tax funds. All our work is aimed at reducing waste and corruption in the public sector and, in so doing, our work flows directly toward benefiting everyone and the more so, the poorest of the poor who suffer the most when it comes to poor service delivery by the State.
"We also take exception to the Minister's claims that we are engaging with disgruntled service providers. We are not taking any service providers' side in this matter, and we do our investigation without fear or favour. OUTA gets its information from whistleblowers who want to help expose corruption in the Department of Higher Education. We also have no benefit in disrupting the start of the new academic year."
The Growing Anger of Students:
Minister Nzimande: "We are shocked by the reaction of some student organisations to this matter because we engage regularly with the leadership of the students. It concerns us that they may wittingly or unwittingly be aiding the nefarious agenda of organisations such as OUTA and the DA."
(BizNews reported on Sunday that the South African Union of Students (SAUS) has given President Cyril Ramaphosa an ultimatum to act swiftly, "because to fail to do so would be in itself an endorsement of the criminal syndicate and generally corruption and impunity". In a statement issued by National Spokesperson Asive Dlanjwa it warned: "Failure for the President to act in defense of the poor and working class, we will mobilise all progressive forces to agitate and demonstrate in the most radical manner our rejection and condemnation for the continued stay of Blade Nzimande and Ernest Khosa."
(Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has vowed to initiate mass mobilisation campaigns at campuses across the country to force Ramaphosa to fire Nzimande.)
OUTA Head of Investigations Rudie Heyneke: OUTA suspects that it is being "blamed in advance" by Minister Nzimande for students' building anger at the malfeasance taking place within NSFAS. "The fact is that the anger has been building since last year. We have had engagements with several students and student organisations regarding the non-payment of allowances. NSFAS themselves issued a statement earlier this month in which they acknowledged that there are still 20 000 students who haven't received their allowances, and they promised that all outstanding allowances will be paid by January 15th."
OUTA has reiterated its call on students to protest peacefully and to not damage any infrastructure.
In a previous statement on the looming crisis with NSFAS-accredited student accommodation, OUTA revealed: "We completed an investigation into student accommodation tenders at NSFAS, and the findings are cause for grave concern. By early October, only about 6.5% of the 397 000 beds needed for NSFAS-funded students countrywide had been accredited. We doubt that significant progress was made in this regard. Perhaps NSFAS can update students on how this is progressing. Or will students have to sleep in restrooms, libraries and other public spaces again like many had to do at the start of the 2023 academic year?"
As for Minister Nzimande's promise that "many" students would graduate soon thanks to NSFAS: "That is the NSFAS mandate, but what he is not saying is that thousands of NSFAS students can't even access their final results because of unpaid university fees. All the Minister has to do is to engage with student bodies to see that for himself."
The Next Steps:
Minister Nzimande: "As a public office bearer, I am fully sensitive to the public concern that the contents of the OUTA report and recordings has elicited. Mindful of this, I am seeking an urgent meeting with the NSFAS Board on Wednesday to further discuss and engage on this matter.
"Together with the NSFAS Board, we are continuing to work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that all reported instances of corruption and maladministration at NSFAS are properly investigated and that swift and decisive action is taken.
OUTA: OUTA says it is looking forward to President Ramaphosa announcing a broader scope for the NSFAS investigation by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) so that these recordings – which OUTA has already shared with the SIU in December – can be properly investigated.
OUTA confirms that criminal charges have been drawn up with regards to the leaked recordings against Minister Nzimande, Ernest Khosa, Thula Ntumba, the directors of Coinvest as well as Coinvest Africa itself for corruption and bribery in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (No. 12 of 2004).
OUTA Head of Investigations Rudie Heyneke: "We will also share the report and recordings with the Auditor-General of SA, the Public Protector, Werksmans Attorneys, the South African Revenue Service (SARS), National Treasury and USAf, the umbrella body for universities. It will also be given to the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation for oversight purposes."
OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage: OUTA reiterartes its call for Nzimande and Khosa to resign. "If they don't want to resign, President Ramaphosa must for once show that he is putting the country before his party and remove them from their positions.
"We find it very interesting that Minister Nzimande now suggests that OUTA provides him with all the information we have on these matters. NSFAS, the Services SETA and others within his ministry have continuously given us the run-around when it comes to our request for information. Of course, now that the heat is on and he cannot ignore OUTA's claims, he is keen to get more information. We are happy to meet with the Minister, when and if he reaches out and requests a meeting with us, as our previous attempts to meet with him and his department have not been taken seriously and have come to naught."
* In his reaction Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen warns: "The systemic corruption evident at NSFAS and the Department of Higher Education is likely to trigger a serious crisis when students return to campuses later this month, only to find that they cannot access accommodation and are being charged to fund corruption every time they try to buy food.
"ANC corruption and mismanaging has created a funding shortfall of over R1.1 billion, which means that funding will be withdrawn from over 87 000 students, in addition to the 20 000 students who were already deprived last year."
Meanwhile, the DA is "preparing criminal charges against Nzimande and briefing our legal team to declare the NSFAS board delinquent over the corrupt and irrational direct payment and accommodation tenders".
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