The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) returned R1.7b to the purse of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), reports the Zululand Observer.

The recovered funds – which were unallocated from 2016 to 2021 – form part of the R2b the SIU has so far received from universities, TVET Colleges and unqualified former students.

This includes over R58m from the University of Zululand.

“These unallocated funds represent financial resources that were designated for students who qualified for funding but later changed institutions or deregistered,” said the SIU in a statement.

“These funds are retained by the institution for one year, but in this case, were kept for longer,” added the SIU.

“The existence of unallocated funds can be attributed to inadequate control systems and a lack of reconciliation processes implemented by NSFAS during that period, resulting in a failure to recover these funds from institutions of higher learning,” the SIU said.

The money returned also includes money collected from unqualified students.

“Contributing to the R2-billion recovery, the SIU has collected R126 478 184.64 from 1055 parents and unqualified NSFAS beneficiaries who signed AoDs [acknowledgement of death], agreeing to repay the money over time,” added the SIU.

The SIU urged unqualified NSFAS beneficiaries who have not been in contact with the unit to come forward and arrange for repayment.

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