A director of a company whose husband was implicated in a damning Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) report has broken her silence over the allegations in the document. 

On 4 January, Outa released the report in which it was alleged that service providers contracted by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) had paid millions of rand in kickbacks to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande and the chairperson of the NSFAS board, Ernest Khosa, as well as at least R1-million towards a South African Communist Party (SACP) conference.

Outa also released voice recordings of two meetings in August between Khosa and Thula Ntumba, a Coinvest Africa representative who is the husband of one of its directors, Tshegofatso Ntumba.

Nzimande, who is the chairperson of the SACP, has vehemently denied the allegations contained in the Outa report, while NSFAS said Khosa, who voluntarily asked to be put on leave of absence on 10 January following the allegations, also "strongly dismissed with contempt" the voice recordings.

Outa has been investigating the direct payment contracts awarded to Coinvest Africa, Tenet Technology (Pty) Ltd, eZaga Holdings (Pty) Ltd, and Norraco Corporation (Pty) Ltd in June 2022

In the second meeting, Ntumba was recorded as saying: "I gave him a million rands for the communist party. Just imagine. For the conference. When there was nothing. I donated with the very same company that created T-shirts last year, together with the bags."

It was not clear who the "him" is, Outa said.

Tshegofatso Ntumba told News24 they had been inundated by requests for comment on a voice recording "purporting to be that of my spouse in an alleged donation and kickback controversy with NSFAS".

"We, as Coinvest, have no knowledge of any previous donations to any political party and have not been approached by any political party or individual for a donation," she said.

"It is unfortunate that we are being drawn into what appears to be a political scuffle and we wish to place on record that any allegations linking Coinvest and its directors are unfounded and untrue."

Ntumba said that, "in light of these allegations, we as a company will seek legal advice and take legal action where necessary".

Asked whether her husband was denying that his voice was on the voice recordings, Ntumba said: 

Unfortunately I am not his spokesman. I do not know anything about the recording.

Ryan Passmore, CEO of Tenet Technology, said the company "welcomes and supports any investigation that ensures proper governance is followed and there is accountability by everyone involved when providing a service to any government entity".

"We are extremely sensitive that this system impacts South Africa's youth, the individuals that will be the future of South Africa, and we know we are providing the best possible service that will empower our youth and their families."

He said it was important to note that four separate entities were awarded the NSFAS direct payments contract, and that each service provider has their own contract with NSFAS.

"It is expected that each service provider would be measured individually, according to the signed contracts."

Passmore said 20 000 students were yet to receive their allowances, and Outa stated that the reason was due to the lack of competence from the service providers.

"All service providers are mandated to disburse funds within 48 hours of receipt of it. Tenet Technology has paid 100% of the NSFAS students that were allocated to us during the past 18 months, always within the 48-hour window."

Commenting on the allegation of incompetence and non-payment of 20 000 students, he said that it was important to understand that Tenet Technology and other service providers could only pay according to a payment file received by NSFAS.

Ismail Ally, eZaga's chief operating officer, said following allegations about contract cancellations, they had sought legal advice but that no legal action had been initiated yet.

"The reason behind this delay is that the company is still awaiting the receipt of the report (Werksmans report). Once the report is in their possession and they have had the opportunity to review its contents, they will then decide regarding any potential legal action," he said.

Neal Macintyre, the director of Norraco Corporation, did not respond to questions sent to him.

NSFAS said in a statement following Khosa's request for leave of absence that the board had resolved to immediately appoint an independent legal firm to investigate the veracity of the allegations against him.

"The legal firm will be expected to report back to the board within 30 days upon their appointment by NSFAS. The NSFAS board will soon announce the independent legal firm that will conduct these investigations. The NSFAS board also assures all South Africans that this process will be handled with due diligence and integrity it deserves," it said.

The Outa report followed an investigation into Andile Nongogo, the former NSFAS CEO, who was fired in October 2023 following a report by Werksmans Attorneys and advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi SC into allegations of irregularities involving the direct payment contracts to the four companies.

In a recording of the second meeting between Khosa, Ntumba and an unidentified man referred to as Mr C, the latter two discussed Khosa and his conduct at length before he arrived at the meeting venue, including the criminal charges he faced while Khosa was the CEO of the Mpumalanga Economic Empowerment Commission (now the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency).

The report, compiled by Outa's investigations manager, Rudie Heyneke, stated that, at that meeting, Ntumba and Mr C "also conspired how to place [Khosa] under pressure to extend the investigation period into Nongogo's conduct for at least three months".

The report further claimed Ntumba and Mr C alleged that Khosa was threatening them with the termination of the Coinvest/NSFAS contracts, so they would pay him to prevent this from happening.