Durban — In what has become typical of his leadership, while thousands of students around the country scrounge for food and a place to sleep, President Cyril Ramaphosa has done nothing to address the myriad scandals plaguing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), which is responsible for disbursing money to needy students.

The current crisis affects students at 26 tertiary institutions, which should surely be reason to act with some alacrity.

But instead of decisive action, Ramaphosa adopts his typical head-in-the-sand approach and pretends the problem – which threatens to engulf Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, his adviser and senior NSFAS officials – does not exist.

It was the same with recent serious allegations of corruption and state capture against no less than Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

Beyond the usual mealymouthed comments about Mashatile appearing before the ANC’s Integrity Committee, a misnomer if ever there was one, there has been no indication that Ramaphosa is as serious about tackling corruption as he says he is.

While he may dither on the Mashatile affair, the students’ plight requires immediate attention.

Beyond ensuring that their allowances are paid forthwith, so they may feed and house themselves, an urgent investigation into allegations of dodgy NSFAS tenders and alleged kickbacks is called for.

With education often touted as the panacea for all the country’s problems, it would be reasonable to expect Ramaphosa to address some of his effort in that direction.

But the chronically underperforming Basic and Higher Education departments are both allowed to merrily wend their incompetent ways with a near complete lack of accountability.

Ramaphosa used the now infamous fictional Tintswalo to illustrate the progress made under ANC governance during his recent State of the Nation Address – there are some 22 000 Tintswalos around the country giving the lie to his words, and giving him an opportunity to show his mettle.

Independent on Saturday