Criminal charges to be laid against Pasma student leader

The IntelliMali group -- the company contracted to distribute monthly food allowance to WSU students -- will lay criminal charges against under-fire Pasma student leader Sibongile Mani.

This comes after a high-level crisis meeting between WSU management and the IntelliMali chief executive Michael Ansell on Wednesday. WSU spokeswoman  Yonela Tukwayo confirmed that Mani is facing charges for misappropriation of funds.  “IntelliMali indicated that they will lay criminal charges against the student for the misappropriation of funds.”

Tukwayo said Mani, who will start her career after graduation with a staggering student loan of R818000, has been left with a zero balance on her card after her account was deactivated and funds reversed. This means she does not have money to buy food from September 1 until the end of the year.

Tukwayo further said: “All other student allowances are unaffected and will be available in full for the remainder of the year. A forensic investigation has been initiated to determine the exact circumstances around this incident.  The full transaction records of the student’s spending spree are being scrutinised.”

Tukwayo also said that the IntelliMali group has taken responsibility for the loss and has absorbed the cost.

“After preliminary investigations they confirmed that an amount of R14.1-million was erroneously  processed to the student’s IntelliCard  in June 2017. They also confirmed that the student had spent R818000 of this allowance.”