Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za

28 July 2026

1-minute read

OUTA is calling for a full financial investigation after uncovering procurement and government concerns after the INSETA – Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority, a student bursary fund, left hundreds of students without financial support.

Senior Project Manager at OUTA, Rudi Heineke, says that the fund was created in 2021 as a partnership between INSETA, who was to manage it, and the private sector, and became operational in 2022. Its purpose was to assist students in the financial and insurance sector with funding, providing bursaries at different levels of universities and colleges.

The budget was originally R20 million per annum but then shot up to 440million when an unknown and unqualified third party was appointed to manage R70 million of the fund. The investigation by OUTA was undertaken when many students who qualified to study this year did not receive the bursaries for their studies, accommodation providers did not receive the payment for rent, and the institutions they were registered to study at did not receive the stipulated funding.

According to Rudi, the tender in 2023 that opened bidding up to a third party was initially cancelled. In 2024, however, one of the bidders was entrusted to take over managing a substantial amount of the fund and was allegedly appointed “without following procurement processes”.

Listen to the full interview with Ml Sulaimaan Ravat and Rudi Heineke here.