R14 million worth of problems
The Rapper Jay-Z may have 99 problems, but it's not as big as the R14 million problem a WSU student is currently having. What would you do if such an amount of money miraculously appeared in your bank account?
As if there aren’t enough scandals this week alone from government, it’s stakeholders and service providers, comes a new one, sent from controversy heaven.
A student from Walter Sisulu University (WSU) was incorrectly credited with R14 million into her NSFAS card.
Students are normally allocated R1 400 a month to spend on food and books for their studies.
This week, however, it came to light that someone from Intellimali, a service provider tasked with allowance distributions, typed a few more zeros into Sibongile Mani’s account than they should have.
Mani kept this a secret for five months, until her friends decided to report her. It was discovered that she had already spent R818 000 of the money already.
She has since been told to pay back the money. But like most, she can not. Since the #FeesMustFall protests last year, NSFAS has forgotten that her loan was converted into a full bursary when she graduated in 2011.
“Yet, they have been sending emails since January, kindly asking, I must add, that I must pay.”
It has since come to light that the fund has been badly managed, therefore, stretched to capacity with the increasing university enrolments at our country’s universities and colleges.
What would you do if R14 million, like manna from heaven, miraculously landed in your bank account?
Would your moral compass kick in and return the money? Times are tough, how many of us could use a couple of extra zeros (on the positive side of the curve, that is) in our bank accounts?
Lowvelder spoke to a few people on the street. Tell us how you would spend or invest R14 million.
