State bursary funds paid to a dead student while his family looted his bank account

Directors, deputy directors, seven foreign students, a former premier and a premier’s personal assistant are some of the people implicated in the looting of the Free State government’s bursary scheme.

At least R8.3m was misused between 2017 and 2023 by awarding the premier’s office bursary to undeserving individuals. On Tuesday, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) held a press briefing in which it said it was seeking to recover R8.3m linked to the systemic corruption in the scheme.

The SIU disclosed that among the funds irregularly disbursed was R34,000 awarded to a deceased student by the bursary and further funds from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas).

At least 18 acknowledgements of debt totalling R1.9m have been signed with individuals who received undue benefits from the bursary scheme, the unit said.

The investigation into allegations of manipulated financial allocations implicated officials who served during the administrations of former Free State premiers Ace Magashule and Sisi Ntombela.

The bursary is for South African citizens from households that earn less than R600,000 a year and live in the Free State. It excludes government employees.

The SIU said it was investigating allegations that Ntombela could have benefited together with Magashule’s former personal assistant, Moroadi Cholota.

The probe includes allegations that bursaries were awarded to foreigners and relatives of officials.

Acting SIU head Leonard Lekgetho said serious irregularities were uncovered.

“The investigation revealed that officials approved bursaries negligently, failed to comply with the eligibility criteria, and irregularly extended bursary contracts,” he said.

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Lekgetho said one of the most concerning findings involved a deceased student who received funding from both the premier’s office and Nsfas.

“The scheme paid R34,000 to the University of the Free State, which deposited the money into a suspense account after the student’s death. Nsfas also paid R13,000 into the student’s bank account, which his parents used.

“Since the student had died before completing his studies, the funds could not be recovered, especially since the proclamation did not cover Nsfas. The parents also lack the means to repay the money,” Lekgetho said.

He added that the SIU had identified the officials who approved both the bursary and its extension. The investigation also found that seven foreigners received bursaries from the office of the premier. Six of them were funded on a merit basis as top-achieving students.

This was, however, contrary to the bursary policy.

“The SIU found no approval to deviate from the bursary policy...This resulted in expenditure of R576,734.48,” Lekgetho said.

He said the investigation further found that officials failed to properly monitor excess funds held in university suspense accounts. The SIU has since tracked down and recovered R6,3m from seven universities.

“The SIU has signed 18 acknowledgements of debt totalling R1.9m with individuals who received undue benefits from the bursary scheme. To date, a total of R283,571 has been received by the SIU through instalment payments,” he said.

The SIU has made 38 disciplinary referrals against implicated officials, including deputy directors and directors. A further seven individuals have been referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for possible criminal prosecution.

Sowetan