National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) employees have opened a criminal case against a former board member for allegedly stealing 10 laptops intended for under-resourced schools in the Eastern Cape.
According to a statement from NSFAS, the board member, who was leading the scheme’s delegation, allegedly kept 10 of the 30 laptops allocated to six high schools during a donation drive in March this year.
Each school was expected to receive five laptops for communal use.
Meanwhile, NSFAS Administrator Professor Hlengani Mathebula has expressed disappointment over the incident, adding that it is “shocking that a board member of an organisation meant to uplift disadvantaged people is allegedly responsible for such an act”.
Mathebula also commended the NSFAS employees who opened the criminal case against the former board member.
“It testifies to the fact that we are turning the corner as an organisation, as employees are reclaiming their organisation from the grubby hands of those who have been manipulating it for their own self-enrichment while our children suffered the indignity wrought by poverty.
“Children from impoverished backgrounds need all the help they can get from all of us.
“It is therefore appalling to learn that someone used his position of privilege, as a board member, to steal from those same needy children.
“It doesn’t get worse than that,” said Mathebula.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, Tebogo Letsie, has expressed serious concern over the allegations.
Letsie noted that, if substantiated, the alleged conduct would constitute a serious breach of public trust at a time when the entity is already under administration following the dissolution of its board.
He stressed that the incident would also deprive the intended schools of resources meant to support teaching and learning.
“Resources intended to improve educational opportunities must reach their intended beneficiaries.
“Anyone entrusted with public resources is expected to act with integrity and must be held accountable where wrongdoing is established,” said Letsie.
