A damning forensic report has implicated National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) chief executive Andile Nongogo in alleged corruption, fraud, and illegal tender dealing.
The board of the national bursary scheme has now asked Nongongo to provide reasons why he should not be fired after an investigation report by Werkmans Attorneys confirmed Nongogo had a relationship with one of the companies that have been appointed for the new NSFAS direct payment system.
Nongogo was placed on special leave after students from various universities protested against the new direct banking system outside the higher education department offices and parliament.
The special leave was also to allow investigations against him to be carried out without interference.
This was announced by NSFAS Board Chairperson Ernest Khosa during a media briefing in Pretoria on Wednesday.
According to the report, Nongogo actively participated in the presentation to the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) of proposals by service providers.
The report stated that Nongogo illegally appointed a technical advisor to assist the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC).
“This appointment was inherently incorrect, as the 2021 SCM Policy does not provide for the appointment of an expert to the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC),” it said.
The report confirmed that he had relations with Coinvest and eZaga Holdings, the companies that scored lucrative contracts with the funding scheme.
Another concern raised in the report was the inability to conduct thorough research on service providers.
According to the report, the directors of the service providers might be linked to each other.
It said that Tenet Technologies, during his presentation, mentioned that they would be subcontracting to a company known as Coralite (Pty) Ltd.
“The investigators conducted a CIPC search on the company and the search revealed that some directors of Tenet Technologies are the same directors of Coralite.
“This clearly indicates that there is a clear relationship between the directors of Tenet Technologies and Coralite,” the report said.
Board Decision
As a result of the findings, Khosa said the board has decided to do the following:
1. Write to the CEO, Mr Andile Nongogo, and grant him an opportunity to advice on why his contract should not be terminated.
2. Subject all staff members associated with wrongdoing, as mentioned in the report, to a disciplinary inquiry.
3. Advice all four direct payment service providers that their contracts will be terminated. The board will ensure that this termination does not affect the students negatively. In this regard, the Board is mindful of the universities they have made and the expectations they had over the next step, which will take into account both the law and the implications to service delivery.
4. Review the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Policy in line with the National Treasury Regulations and Policies, including the PFMA.
He said that the decisions will be implemented progressively starting on October 18.
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