The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) on Tuesday blamed incomplete reconciliation data between the entity and tertiary institutions for the delays in submitting its financial statements for auditing by the Auditor-General.
Briefing the standing committee on public accounts, NSFAS administrator Freeman Nomvalo said the entity had failed to submit its financial statements for a number of years.
“(In) 2021-22, there was a bit of drama that has now been resolved,” Nomvalo said.
He also said the audit of the 2022-23 financial statements have been finalised and the A-G has since provided a report at the end of September.
“We are now undergoing quality control so that we can submit to the minister for tabling at the end of the month. That is tabled a year later than when it ought to be tabled.”
The report signed off on September 30, 2024, indicated an adverse audit outcome.
Significant findings relate to the close out process, double dipping by students, student fee statements not agreeing to institutional claims, non-submission of data by institutions and errors relating to the manual reconciling process.
Nomvalo also said that they were finalizing preparation of the 2023-24 financial statements to submit to the A-G at the end of October.
“With the preparation of the 2023-24 financial statement we have to deal with close out issues, which relate to information between ourselves and the institutions.
“That close out process had not been done since 2017 and therefore (from) the financial statements prepared, the A-G will be unable to make conclusive opinion because information relating to those amounts owed between ourselves and the institutions would not be properly agreed and confirmed,” he said.
A presentation tabled to Scopa showed that delays experienced in conducting the audit of 2021-22 had a domino effect on the subsequent reporting for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years.
It said NSFAS has been working to resolve identified audit issues with internal audit findings having substantially been resolved and where applicable included in the 2022-23 annual financial statements.
“External audit findings deal mainly with aspects relating to the close-out processes whereby data between institutions and NSFAS is reconciled. NSFAS is in constant communication with institutions to resolve these issues.”
Tertiary institutions were requested to submit student data relating to the final adjusted cost of study.
Nomvalo said in preparation for the 2023-24 financial statements, they have resolved the information for the 2023 calendar with 25 institutions submitting, with the exception of one.
A total of 50 out of 76 TVET colleges have submitted the required information.
Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane said the delays in providing NSFAS with close out reports for financial statements remained one of their concerns.
Nkabane said those institutions withholding critical data from NSFAS and preventing submitting statements for auditing would be penalised.
“I will put measures in place in consultation with vice-chancellors and councils to make sure institutions of higher learning comply and submit their documents on time.”
Meanwhile, the process to appoint the new board for the NSFAS was underway.
Nkabane said they have amended the terms of reference for Nomvalo.
“One can confidently say he is doing very well in implementing the Werkmans report.”
She said advertisement required the nominees to have a master’s qualification to serve on the board.
“We hope we are to get credible professionals to come and assist in turning around the entity.”
The new board is expected to come up with a turnaround strategy to respond to the gaps Nomvalo has identified and ensure there was a smooth transition when he leaves the entity.
Nkabane said there was no issue if Nomvalo had an interest in serving as the CEO of NSFAS if he met the requirements.
Cape Times