NSFAS freeloaders highlight need for state funding reforms

WANTED! A nation with a conscience.

- EDWIN NAIDU

Forget the empty rhetoric surrounding the wasteful national dialogue led by those who proved during the last election that they can no longer be trusted.

It is up to citizens to look within to rediscover the moral compass of good that would make South Africa great. The people must find their own voices on issues of national importance.

No politician with a sofa-load of money is going to convince us about good or bad. Neither would that man who once led the Moral Regeneration Movement persuade us that he knows anything about what is good for the nation.

Perhaps, if he paid back the money for his palace, things would change through that example alone.

In a democracy built on the principles of equality and a better life for all, few issues cut as deeply into the national consciousness as funding for higher education.

Billions have been invested in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), which has, for three decades, been the government's flagship social intervention programme. It has opened the doors of learning to millions who would otherwise have been denied access to a tertiary education.

But only 20000 graduates out of 841 879 former students who benefited from the fund have repaid their debts. The scheme is owed R45.9 billion.

It raises the question: How can someone refuse to repay something gifted by taxpayers as a service towards building a nation of educated individuals?

Hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries are failing to repay their loans, creating a significant issue. The question is, where does responsibility begin and end in this cycle, and what does our collective response reveal about us as a society?