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2,400 students from the colleges of agriculture, environmental and human sciences and engineering have had their marks withheld by UNISA due to concerns over cheating. Over 750 warning letter have been issued and other 200 cases were still outstanding. The consequences of cheating can results in disqualification from future tests or examinations, and exclusions or expulsions from the university.

MPs have rejected assertions by the Walter Sisulu University‚ service provider Intellimali and NSFAS that there was foul play in the "erroneous" payment of R14-million into a student’s account. The lawmakers from across the political divide pointed their guns at the three entities‚ with some telling Intellimali that they were too quick to lay criminal charges against the student‚ while the role of their employees has not been investigated in the matter. MPs also called on the higher education department to consider a review of the system used by NSFAS and universities to pay living allowances to students‚ saying there was no need for "middlemen" to be involved in the distribution of billions of rand.

The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education has condemned academics, staff and students operating in a syndicate in order to do student placements and applauded investigations that are being instituted. A call has been made that policies that have been announced by government and authorised by Parliament must be implemented. Universities will be requested to inform Parliament what steps are being taken to close any loopholes that might be used to undermine legislation and policies.

A forensic probe into corrupt practices at the government’s embattled multibillion-rand student funding vehicle is set to be launched, said Higher Education and Training Minister. The scheme gets a significant portion of the department’s budget. Students who did not meet the scheme’s funding thresholds were granted loans, putting countless deserving others at a disadvantage.

The Department of Higher Education has warned students to be wary of "registered" private colleges which offer certificates, diplomas and degrees but do not have its stamp of approval. A department spokesman expressed concern about the current trend whereby institutions secured registration for one or two programmes, and then used this status as a cover to offer other unregistered courses.