Higher education & training minister Buti Manamela has appointed administrators to three sector education and training authorities (Setas), taking his first steps to stabilise the troubled sector.
SA’s 21 Setas were established by the 1998 Skills Act with the aim of providing workers with the skills required by the market. But many Setas are mired in allegations of corruption and mismanagement, and the sector as a whole is failing to reduce unemployment or alleviate the need to import artisan skills.
On Tuesday the department of higher education & training announced that the minister had appointed administrators to the Services Seta, the Local Government Seta (LGSeta), and the Construction Seta (Ceta) in terms of the Skills Development Act.
“This intervention follows serious and entrenched governance failures in these entities, including procurement irregularities, lapses in oversight and board instability, which threatened their ability to deliver on their mandate to advance skills development,” the department said in a statement.
All three Setas received a qualified audit from the auditor-general in 2023/24, the latest year for which audit findings have been published.
The minister has appointed the administrators for 12 months and charged them with restoring the governance and financial integrity of the Setas, in line with the Public Finance Management Act.
“We cannot allow governance failures to erode the public’s confidence in our skills development system. Our goal is to reposition Setas so they can contribute effectively to the fight against unemployment, poverty and inequality,” Manamela said.
Matjie Masoga, former CEO of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone, has been appointed administrator of the Services Seta, which faces allegations of tender irregularities dating back to 2018.
Our goal is to reposition Setas so they can contribute effectively to the fight against unemployment, poverty and inequality.
— Buti Manamela
Higher education & training minister
The watchdog group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) exposed a suspicious R163m contract for biometric systems to track learner attendance that operated for just four days, which the Services Seta terminated without recovering funds or laying charges against the provider.
Outa subsequently uncovered an allegedly corrupt R36m contract for branding materials with grossly inflated invoices, including a branded tender box for R302,000.
Oupa Nkoane, former municipal manager of Emfuleni Municipality, has been appointed administrator of the Construction Seta, which was recently flagged by the auditor-general for falling foul of government procurement rules in its R49m purchase of a building for its head office.
The department’s deputy director-general for skills development, Zukile Mvalo, has been appointed administrator of the LGSeta. A forensic investigation into the LGSeta in 2022 found extensive governance failings, including procurement irregularities, unauthorised discretionary grant allocations and overpayments.
More recently, the Sunday Times reported that former higher education & training minister Nobuhle Nkabane had ignored finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s warnings about irregularities in the appointment of LGSeta CEO Ineeleng Molete.
President Cyril Ramaphosa fired Nkabane last month after she allegedly lied to parliament about her appointment of ANC-aligned individuals to Seta boards, and appointed Manamela in her stead.
The administrators will be expected to submit monthly reports to higher education & training director-general Nkosinathi Sishi. Among their tasks are to review the terms and conditions of the employment of the Seta CEOs.
Outa has previously drawn attention to the remuneration of Seta CEOs, many of whom earn more than the president.
Outa welcomed the minister’s move, but said placing the three Setas under administration was not an end in itself.
‘Corruption networks’
“It must lead to deep reform. Administrators carry a responsibility to dismantle entrenched corruption networks, enforce accountability and ensure funds are directed to genuine skills development,” Outa said, adding it was vital to safeguard whistle-blowers who had exposed the rot in the Setas.
DA spokesperson on higher education & training Matlhodi Maseko questioned the minister’s choice of administrators.
“Appointments to critical skills development bodies cannot be a cosmetic exercise — they must restore public trust, protect taxpayer funds and ensure that Setas fulfil their mandate. Until [they] are free from the shadow of past corruption, South Africans have every reason to remain sceptical about whether these interventions will truly transform the sector,” she said.
Mvalo was responsible for the Seta sector, yet they were collapsing under his watch, she said, adding there were red flags about the other administrators too.
A 2017/18 forensic report into Emfuleni Municipality when Nkoane was the municipal manager found R872m in unauthorised expenditure, while a forensic probe into a R4.4m communications contract at the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone when Masoga was at the helm recommended he face disciplinary action for allegedly backdating the contract, she said.
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