Special Investigative Unit.
JOHANNESBURG - The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has returned R1.7 billion to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
This money is said to have remained unallocated from 2016 to 2021.
The SIU revealed this in a statement on Tuesday.
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According to the SIU the recovered amount forms part of more than R2 billion the SIU has, to date, reclaimed from universities, TVET colleges and unqualified former students.
The unit said the unallocated funds were meant for students who had qualified for NSFAS funding but later changed institutions or deregistered.
"These funds are retained by the institution for one year, but in this case were kept for more than a year," the statement read.
The SIU attributed the existence of unallocated fund to weak control systems and a lack of proper reconciliation processes within NSFAS during that period.
This resulted in the failure to recover the funds from institutions of higher learning.
The SIU said the recovered R1.7 billion will now be redirected towards addressing students’ financial needs at institutions of higher education.