Over R5 billion of money from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme has been disclosed for having funded student that do not meet the financial assistance criteria. This, as revealed during the Parliament's Standing Committee on Publice Accounts (SCOPA).

Thousands of well-deserving NSFAS students are likely to have been affected and possibly not granted funding.

This, as the recent revelation detailing the excessive amount used to fund under 45 000 students who do not qualify for NSFAS was revealed today. 

The announcement comes following a probe requested by Ramaphosa last year for the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate allegations of maladministration and  improper funding in NSFAS by employees and officials.

According to SIU Chief National Investigations Officer, Leonard Lekgetho, 44 000 students who do not the criteria for NSFAS funding were granted the funding anyway.

He further added that to continue the investigation, such beneficiaries will be identified and interviewed to investigate the accuracy of the information they provided when applying for the funding.

With NSFAS funding having a set criteria, with the main one being that the prospective beneficiary can only apply if their household income is below R350-thousand, such funds have evidently been wasted over the years.