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Comments made by the Director General of Higher Education and Training, Gwebs Qonde, at a portfolio committee meeting yesterday raise questions about the termination of employment of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) CEO, Ashley Seymour, in April. Mr Seymour is the man who should be credited with the NSFAS’ recent improvement. At yesterday’s portfolio committee meeting, the DG suggested that it was not Mr Seymour, but the new NSFAS board that had been reconstituted under the Minister of Higher Education’s orders, that was responsible for the NSFAS’ recent audit success.

So the DG wants Parliament to believe that the board, which has been in disarray – and which was only reconstituted with three months remaining in the financial year - led the NSFAS to stability. It’s not a credible story. Today I will be writing to the Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande to ask for a full explanation as to why Mr Seymour was fired, and to enquire about the steps the NSFAS is taking to employ a new CEO in his place, since his post has been vacant for half a year.

Mr Seymour should be seen as primarily responsible for the NSFAS’ receipt of an unqualified audit in 2010/11. The NSFAS’ 2011 Audit Improvement Plan was developed by Mr Seymour, and he hired three qualified chartered accountants to assist in the entity’s improvement. All three resigned after the Minister reconstituted the Board with members of his own choosing.
It is difficult not to conclude that Minister Blade Nzimande has axed the man responsible for NSFAS’ new found stability.

That the NSFAS has gone from a series of disclaimers to an unqualified audit opinion is wonderful news. This body provides an essential service for students in need of funding for their studies. However, the Minister must explain why the man who appears to have been responsible for the entity’s improvement – and therefore its ability to deliver its important service to students – has been removed from his post.