Karen Stander’s abrupt resignation exposes internal strife, racism and safety fears as governance problems deepen at Nsfas.
The sudden resignation of Karen Stander as National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) board chair is causing concern.
Stander’s resignation letter made allegations of bullying, intimidation, racism and threats to her personal safety.
Asked for comment, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse CEO Wayne Duvenage said much needed to be done to continue to address the governance and performance issues at Nsfas, including the clean-up of past contracts entered into by the previous administration, which got Nsfas into the mess it was in now.
Nsfas faces fresh turmoil as board chair Stander resigns
Duvenage said while Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela cannot force Stander to stay on, he believed she had the appetite to do so.
“But only if the minister really wants her to and if she is convinced he will have her back when it comes to what she needs to do to address the fallout developing at Nsfas,” Duvenage said.
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The board was split and had lost good members who had a similar mindset to Stander, such as good governance and accountability are non-negotiable, he said.
“This makes her job more difficult, because there are a number of board members who pay less attention to performance measurements, governance and accountability than they ought to. If she does not have 100% support of the new minister, the CEO and board members, then her job will be almost untenable.”
Duvenage said acting CEO Waseem Carrim was not fit for the role.
Acting CEO not fit for role – Outa
“We believe he doesn’t respect the chair. For this reason, his contract should be terminated.
“The minister is not seizing the opportunity to clean up shop throughout higher education.
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“We see this also in the Sector Education and Training Authorities [Setas], where he is employing many of the old guard and their boards, who have been remiss in their roles to hold the executive managers to account, thereby enabling poor governance and the continuation of the rot and maladministration,” Duvenage said.
Senior political lecturer at North-West University Benjamin Rapanyane said leaders must sometimes make way for renewal when institutional trust and collaboration break down.
Leaders must make way for renewal
“Stander highlighted deeper structural problems at Nsfas. If she couldn’t solve them, these problems may need a new leader,” he said.
Delmaine Christians, DA spokesperson on education, said the DA asked the chair of the portfolio committee to get Manamela to account for Stander’s allegations.
