The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have expressed concerns over the cancellation of a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education meeting, in which the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) was to be discussed.

Both parties are demanding urgent parliamentary intervention following Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela's decision to place NSFAS under administration owing to ongoing governance and financial failures.

The portfolio committee was scheduled to convene at NSFAS headquarters, where Manamela was expected to brief Parliament on his decision to place the embattled scheme under administration.

However, the critical engagement was abruptly called off. According to correspondence, the Department of Higher Education and Training and NSFAS failed to submit presentations ahead of the meeting.

Manamela formally requested additional time to finalise and “quality assure” his presentation.

DA spokesperson on Higher Education and Training Dr Delmaine Christians criticised the delay, arguing that Parliament could not be sidelined in exercising oversight over a multibillion-rand public entity.

Christians noted that placing NSFAS under administration had “quickly escalated into court action and administrative chaos, making parliamentary oversight more vital than ever”.

The DA wants NSFAS to be replaced with a new decentralised student funding model, where accredited and competent higher education institutions administer their own funding, removing failing intermediaries and reducing governance, procurement and payment failures.

The EFF has similarly condemned the situation, calling for Parliament’s immediate, urgent intervention to ensure that the executive and NSFAS leadership are held accountable to the public and to students who depend on the scheme.

“Parliamentary processes are, yet again, being manipulated to shield the Executive from scrutiny whenever accountability becomes politically inconvenient.

“The authority, credibility, and constitutional standing of Parliament depend on the consistent application of its rules, irrespective of political convenience or executive discomfort,” the party said.

The EFF rejected any attempt to convert parliamentary committees into protective shields for “delinquent” Ministers and politically connected individuals.

The party pointed out that for the first time, a meeting formally agreed to by majority members and officially scheduled on Parliament's programme was being withdrawn outside of a formal committee sitting.

“… this undermines institutional consistency and raises serious concerns about the erosion of Parliament's procedural integrity.

“If allowed to stand, this conduct will establish a dangerous precedent where oversight meetings can simply be cancelled at the last minute through informal communication whenever accountability becomes uncomfortable for the Executive. This constitutes an attack on accountability itself,” the EFF warned.

Adding to the uncertainty, NSFAS administrator Professor Hlengani Mathebula raised formal objections regarding the participation of former board members in the parliamentary meeting.

The administrator argued that the dissolved board’s involvement posed governance and financial complications.