The ANC has praised the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) as being a well functioning state institution and directed higher education minister Blade Ndzimande to ensure that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) disburse funds directly to students or through SASSA unlike the current arrangement where the function is outsourced.
Mbalula acknowledged that SASSA has limped from crisis to another but said the agency was impressive in solving those problems.
“SASSA is an excellent government institution in terms of disbursement. The fact that they might be facing challenges from time to time, dead people in the system is challenges that they face and they work very hard to overcome but its the best.
“SASSA was formed after a total disaster of disbursement of social grants and they’ve done a perfect job. What happens now with the disbursement of student financial aid it has been outsourced, it stays with people who have got no soul to understand that these kids when they pass they are going to register,” said Mbalula during a media conference at the party offices on Thursday.
Mbalula said SASSA is a what a functional state institution should be like.
“We must build the capacity of the state and that’s why through SASSA we could distribute 11 million 350s in this country and worked backwards to realize that some of them they’re getting double pay because they’re also on the other grants of the state. That is why the number reduced from 11 to 7million because some of them are also getting employed so the system managed to catch them but within a period of about 4 weeks the system was up running. The capability of the state was put to test and that is what we talk about when we talk about a capable state. A capable state must not have problems to disperse student financial aid,” said Mbalula.
Mbalula said the NEC Lekgotla directed Ndzimande to start working on turning NSFAS around so it can distribute funds on its own or through SASSA instead of a middleman.
“Student accommodation, why is this thing in private hands? Why is the state not building Student accommodation all round? Why? Forever and ever. These are the suggestions we’ve put in the bucket of the minister to consider. The difference is that you can have challenges of people in the system but the capacity of the state to disburse social grants has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is working. It is possible that as a student you can have a SASSA card for your financial aid like people have got a grant and all of that. Capability of the state is being challenged here so we need to address that,” he said.
The NSFAS fundedsome 1.3 million students in 2023 some of whom are yet to receive some of the payments while SASSA pays monthly grants to 19 million South Africans including categories such as children, the elderly, disabled and since 2020, the special Covid19 Social Relief Distress grant which has since been extended multiple times.