The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has opened a theft case against a former board member accused of misappropriating laptops intended for under-resourced schools in the Eastern Cape. According to NSFAS, the former board member, who led the organisation’s delegation during the Eastern Cape Donation Drive in March 2026, allegedly kept ten of the 30 laptops that were meant to be distributed to six identified high schools.
NSFAS administrator Professor Hlengani Mathebula says It is shocking that particularly a board member, of an organisation designed to alleviate hardships from economically deprived communities, would be responsible for such an act.
“This act by our colleagues is exemplary. It testifies to the fact that we are turning the corner as an organisation, as employees are reclaiming their organisation from the grubby hands of those who have been manipulating it for their own self-enrichment while our children suffered the indignity wrought on by poverty. Children from impoverished backgrounds need all the help they can get from all of us. It is therefore appalling to learn that someone used his position of privilege, being a board member, to steal from the same needy children. It doesn’t get worse than that,” said Mathebula.
He added that he has full confidence in the South African Police Service (SAPS) to speedily secure justice for the would-be-beneficiaries.
Photo: NSFAS
