NSFAS demands R45bn in unpaid debt from former students now employed

NATIONAL Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) CEO Waseem Carrim has revealed that the scheme is owed R45 billion in outstanding student loans and has called on former beneficiaries to begin repayments.

- SIMON MAJADIBODU

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday afternoon in Pretoria, Carrim said the loans date back to 2018 and earlier, and were granted by NSFAS and its predecessor, the Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa (TEFSA).

NSFAS was established in 1996 to provide financial assistance to students. Initially, it was run by TEFSA, a nonprofit organisation set up in 1991.

TEFSA administered the fund until 2000 and was officially converted into a statutory body in 1999, becoming NSFAS. Carrim admitted that NSFAS has struggled with recovering debts over the years.

“It has not had the best debt management strategy. But we cannot, as a board and management, continue to sit on that substantial amount of debt and not collect it” he said.