The SETAs manage about R20bn a year in funds raised directly from employers, and OUTA wants to see ethical, independent and qualified individuals on those boards.
Recently, there has been significant confusion regarding the appointment of new board chairs for the sector education and training authorities (SETAs). The recent outcry from political parties and civil society appears to have generated sufficient heat, leading to Minister Nobuhle Nkabane’s decision to withdraw the list of nominees of SETA chairpersons, and a reopening of the nomination and selection process.
OUTA calls on businesses, employers, unions and civil society to nominate ethical, independent and qualified individuals to the boards.
The nomination process for new board appointments began a few months ago in November 2024, when the Minister of Higher Education issued a call for new chairs for the boards for the 21 SETAs, for the new five-year term from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030 (see here). The SETA CEOs were also encouraged to invite nominations for board members (see here). In March 2025, the Department of Higher Education told the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education that there were 315 posts for board members in the 21 SETAs, calculated at 15 per SETA, with 55 vacant posts (see here and here).
Concerns were raised earlier this week, when a list was leaked containing the selected new SETA board chairs, which include family members of ministers (such as the son of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minster Gwede Mantashe) and apparent political allies of President Cyril Ramaphosa (see here). On 15 May, Minister Nkabane withdrew the chairperson appointments and said she would reopen the process with a seven-day nomination period and an independent panel to process the nominations (see here).
“We welcome the decision to cancel the appointments, and the fact that the Minister is willing to engage with other stakeholders and civil society on this important issue,” says OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage.
“We do not need politicians to chair higher education institutions – we need ethical leaders who have the necessary skills and expertise to turn around the skills development sector and alleviate unemployment. We have seen far too much corruption, maladministration and financial mismanagement in a number of the SETAs over the years, and it is high time the Minister takes this opportunity to turn around the sector and seeks out new blood from academia, business and civil society to fill these important oversight roles.
“We encourage South Africans who believe they are qualified to take up these positions, to ‘report for country duty’ and apply for them when the new nomination process opens next week.”
Duvenage says the skills development levies – which are paid by employers and fund the SETAs – should be put to good use and not looted as has happened far too frequently in the past.
The version of Budget 2025 which was tabled in Parliament in March and is due to be replaced next week notes that the SETAs received R19.595 billion in 2024/25 and are expected to receive R20.805bn in 2025/26.
While these are significant amounts of money, the performance indicators included in the Higher Education vote do not make it clear whether the country is receiving value for this spending, and the increasingly high unemployment rate – particularly of the youth – raises further concern over the value of this spending.
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