Non-ANC deputy minister breaks ranks over embattled aid body reforms in budget debate
Divisions within South Africa’s government of national unity (GNU) over how to tackle the country’s student funding crisis emerged during this week’s debate over the higher education budget vote.
Presenting his department’s spending plans for 2026‑27 on 26 May, Buti Manamela (pictured, left), the higher education and training minister, outlined his vision for the future of the embattled National Student Financial Aid Scheme, which he placed under administration last month.
NSFAS, which spends more than 50 billion rand (US$3bn) annually on supporting needy students, has been plagued by years of administrative failures, delayed payments, corruption allegations and problems with student accommodation payments. The turmoil has caused outstanding student debt to balloon, causing financial woes for universities.
“Our intention is to stabilise NSFAS and then have a discussion about what needs to be done,” Manamela said after several MPs criticised his department’s handling of the agency.
Different vision
An alternative outlook came from one of his two deputy ministers. “There is no longer a need for NSFAS in its current form,” said Mimmy Gondwe (pictured, right) of the Democratic Alliance, which governs alongside Manamela’s African National Congress in the unity government.
“It is time to replace it with a national student funding agency, where our higher education institutions themselves select students and assess their financial needs, and then apply directly to the National Treasury for the necessary disbursements to fund tuition and the cost of living,” Gondwe said.
Her position, while at odds with the minister’s, aligns with that of her party. Reforming NSFAS was one of the Democratic Alliance’s key promises in the 2024 general elections that led to the formation of the unity government after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the country transitioned to democracy in 1994.
Other parties, such as the Economic Freedom Fighters, have also proposed sweeping reforms, including dissolving NSFAS and allowing universities to disburse its funding directly to students in need.
‘Not accepted’
During the debate, Gondwe was criticised as overstepping her mandate. Gaolatlhe Kgabo of the ANC accused her of trying to “lead the department through a back door”, which would “never be accepted”, he said.
Manamela said Gondwe’s remarks were “getting way ahead” of the current proposals on student funding, adding that “it is probably in the nature of the beast of the GNU” for such messages to emerge.
“The urgent task first is stabilising NSFAS. Then we’re quite open to some of the proposals and suggestions,” he said.
