Newly appointed National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) administrator Prof Hlengani Mathebula has been tasked with stabilising the troubled student funding scheme at a critical moment for higher education in South Africa.
His appointment was announced by higher education minister Buti Manamela on Monday.
Manamela said Mathebula brings “extensive governance, financial management, regulatory and institutional leadership experience accumulated over more than three decades across the public and private sectors”.
Mathebula holds:
- a PhD from the University of Pretoria;
- a Master of Management in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Capital Creation from the Wits Business School; and
- a BTh (Hons) at the University of the North (now the University of Limpopo).
He also completed management and senior executive programmes at RAU (now the University of Johannesburg), Stellenbosch University and Harvard Business School. In addition, he is:
- a certified executive coach with coaching qualifications from the University of Cape Town; and
- a Fellow of the Centre for Leadership and Public Values Southern Africa–USA based at Stanford University.
Beyond his qualifications, Mathebula has built a career across key institutions in the public and private sectors. He has served in executive and governance positions at the South African Reserve Bank, the South African Revenue Service and major financial institutions, and on the boards of several public and private entities.
Government is confident Prof Mathebula possesses the experience, independence, leadership capacity and institutional understanding necessary to stabilise the NSFAS during this period
— Buti Manamela, higher education minister
He currently serves as director and head of the Tshwane School for Business and Society at the Tshwane University of Technology and has held professorial and senate leadership responsibilities within the university sector.
This background places him at the centre of efforts to restore accountability and oversight at the NSFAS, which has faced ongoing governance and operational challenges.
Manamela said Mathebula “combines governance and financial oversight experience with academic and institutional leadership within the higher education sector”. This mix of experience will be key as the NSFAS undergoes administration.
“Government is therefore confident Prof Mathebula possesses the experience, independence, leadership capacity and institutional understanding necessary to stabilise the NSFAS during this period.”
Mathebula’s role as administrator will focus on “stabilisation, accountability, operational continuity and institutional renewal”. His responsibilities will include:
- strengthening governance and internal controls;
- addressing audit and consequence-management weaknesses; and
- accelerating ICT and systems integration reforms.
He is also expected to focus on student-centred issues such as:
- stabilising student funding operations;
- improving student accommodation oversight; and
- resolving appeals and service delivery backlogs.
The administration has been described as “a temporary but necessary intervention to restore institutional credibility, operational effectiveness and public confidence in the NSFAS”.
Mathebula’s priority is to stabilise the institution and ensure it continues to serve students across the country, the minister added.
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