NSFAS appoints Laurence Aadnesgaard as interim CEO

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has appointed Laurence Aadnesgaard as its interim chief executive officer (CEO) for the next six months and took effect on November 1.

This comes as the recruitment process for a permanent head of the organisation continues.

In a statement released on Tuesday, NSFAS said Aadnesgaard's appointment follows a resolution by the NSFAS Executive Committee at a meeting held on October 26.

He will serve in the position for six months or until a permanent CEO is appointed, whichever comes first.

The appointment is intended to ensure continuity in executive leadership and maintain effective administration and oversight of the organisation's operations during the transition.

Aadnesgaard is a chartered accountant (CA(SA)) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Financial Accounting and a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of Cape Town.

He has more than a decade of professional experience at the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA), where he has worked since 2015. He was appointed audit manager in January 2023.

According to NSFAS, his experience includes public sector auditing, financial reporting, governance, risk management, internal controls and performance accountability.

He also has experience within NSFAS, having been involved in the organisation's annual audits, including those of its student loan book, for approximately nine years.

This has given him exposure to the financial modelling of the loan book, loan recoveries, actuarial assumptions and the legislative and reporting frameworks governing the scheme.

The NSFAS Board said his professional expertise and familiarity with the organisation's operations would help maintain stability and support its priorities during the interim period.

Commenting on the appointment, Board Interim Chairperson Adv Richardt Tlou Ramashia said the priority was to ensure leadership continuity and organisational stability while the process of appointing a permanent CEO was underway.

"We are confident that Mr Aadnesgaard's professional expertise, governance experience and institutional familiarity will assist NSFAS in maintaining focus on its mandate and strengthening accountability during this period," Ramashia said.

The board said the interim appointment would not change NSFAS's statutory mandate of providing financial assistance to eligible students from poor and working-class backgrounds to access and succeed in higher education and training.

It added that the organisation would continue focusing on the effective administration of student financial aid, improving operational performance, strengthening accountability and governance, and maintaining relationships with institutions of higher learning, government and other stakeholders.

NSFAS said the recruitment process for a permanent CEO was ongoing and that further communication would be provided.