THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) board chairman, Ernest Khosa's leave amid corruption allegations is not an admission of guilt.
Nsfas said this as they welcomed the Khosa’s decision to step aside.
In recently leaked voice recordings by a whistleblower and an accompanying report by Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), it was revealed how service providers allegedly paid millions of rands in kickbacks to Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Minister Blade Nzimande and Khosa as well as providing at least R1 million to the South African Communist Party (SACP), where Nzimande is the national chairman.
These allegations have placed the two in the limelight, with many political parties calling for their heads.
Nsfas confirmed that Khosa voluntarily tabled a notice of thirty days' leave of absence to enable the board to deal with all the allegations against him as contained in the recordings distributed by Outa.
Khoza reiterated to the board that he had never received financial gratification for his personal use or facilitated any for the minister or the SACP.
While accepting the absence of leave, Nsfas indicated that this was no admission of guilt.
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“The board takes this opportunity to thank Mr Khosa for his honourable, brave and responsible decision to voluntarily take leave of absence and hails his decision as a responsible and conscious step to advance good corporate governance, transparency and accountability.
“The board would like to emphasise that this decision should not be interpreted as an admission of guilt on the part of the chairperson.
“Expressly, the board resolved to appoint an independent legal firm to look into the veracity of the allegations against the board chairperson. The legal firm, soon to be announced by the board, will be expected to submit its findings within 30 days of their appointment,” the scheme said.
Meanwhile, the South African Students Congress (SASC) called on Outa not to limit their scope of investigation and extend it to maladministration within institutions of higher learning.
“No institution must use challenges as a political tool to advance institutional autonomy. Institutions of higher learning fall with the scope of public entities that are sustained by taxpayers' money,” said SASC.
Some of the former leaders of SASC have also been implicated in the Outa investigations.
Responding to this, SASC said that any current or former leaders and members of the student movement who are in bed with corrupt individuals and are found guilty through the court of law must be subjected to legal consequences.
