The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has sought to quell a governance row following the sudden resignation of its board chair, Karen Stander, pushing back firmly against accusations of misconduct and internal dysfunction.
NSFAS acting CEO Waseem Carrim issued a sharp rebuttal to allegations made by Stander, who resigned last week alleging governance breakdowns and a hostile working environment.
The row has placed higher education minister Buti Manamela under renewed pressure to intervene amid concerns that dysfunction at the NSFAS could jeopardise funding flows ahead of the 2026 academic cycle.
Manamela met with the NSFAS board on Wednesday following an earlier meeting with Stander.
“The meeting allowed the minister to engage thoroughly with the outgoing chair on matters of governance within the scheme and to reaffirm the department’s commitment to addressing these matters decisively,” the department said in a statement.
“The meeting forms part of the minister’s commitment to ensuring stability, transparency and accountability within NSFAS. It also aims to strengthen the entity’s capacity to deliver on its core mandate of providing financial aid to eligible students from poor and working-class families in SA.”
Carrim has argued that Stander deviated from proper governance procedure, saying concerns raised in her resignation letter dated November 2 “should have been raised to the board of directors so that the merits of the matters raised could be evaluated … the chair of NSFAS, in her wisdom, decided to bypass the board of directors and escalate issues directly to the minister of higher education & training,” Carrim said in written responses to Business Day.
The NSFAS did not answer specific questions about whether it will launch an internal review of the allegations or whether the board will formally consider Stander’s claims retroactively. No timeline has been indicated for appointing a permanent chair or CEO.
NSFAS has battled persistent turmoil over the past two years, including forensic investigations into its direct-payment model, legal battles with service providers and turnover in senior leadership. Stander’s dramatic exit adds another layer of uncertainty to one of SA’s most critical public institutions, already tasked with stabilising student disbursements and rebuilding public confidence.
The outgoing chair had reportedly accused Carrim of ignoring instructions on disciplinary matters and modelling work for a new funding system and of attempting to overstep board authority on key decisions. However, Carrim dismissed the assertions, saying they “are categorically denied, and the chair of the board cannot place any evidence on record to support her claims”.
Before her resignation, Stander flagged a breakdown in leadership and management at NSFAS, which has permitted institutions, including the National Treasury and accommodation providers, to bypass management and approach the board chair directly for funding resolutions.
In the letter to Manamela, Stander detailed how the board’s ability to govern and stabilise the student aid scheme was being crushed by internal dysfunction and external interference.
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