The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) today decided unanimously to adjourn a hearing on the National Skills Fund (NSF) and the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). This is due to the late and unjustifiable withdrawal from the meeting of the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mr Buti Manamela, who chose instead to attend the launch of an academic programme in Johannesburg.

“The non-appearance of the deputy minister is unacceptable. The primary role of the committee and Parliament is to hold the executive to account and the committee is not prepared to entertain late, unjustifiable withdrawals by members of the executive. The hearing will be rescheduled to a date to be announced in due course, where we expect the minister or deputy minister to appear in person,” said SCOPA Chairperson Mr Songezo Zibi.

Committee members from all political parties represented in the committee voiced their extreme disappointment at the deputy minister’s failure to appear, after he had delegated political accountability to departmental officials. Mr Zibi will be writing a letter to the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Ms Nobuhle Nkabane, and the Deputy President, Mr Paul Mashatile, to ask them to take stern action and ensure that the committee is briefed by the executive in accordance with the rules.

Mr Manamela and the delegation from his department were expected to brief the committee on various matters relating to the NSF and the NSFAS and on investigations into the two entities conducted by the Special Investigations Unit. The committee is disappointed that it cannot address issues affecting NSFAS and yet thousands of students are affected by its inefficiencies. The committee is also aggrieved that the money spent to fly departmental staff to Cape Town is wasteful expenditure.