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SETAs Wasting Billions

Statement by Karabo Khakhau MP – DA Deputy Spokesperson on Higher Education and Training:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has launched a national petition (End SETA corruption. Build skills that lead to jobs) calling on the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, to begin the process of using the Skills Development Act of 1998 to dissolve all 21 SETAs and the National Skills Fund (NSF) and redirecting these funds toward strengthening Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

Throughout their existence, SETAs and the NSF have turned into profitable avenues for politically connected cadres, resulting in South African taxpayers losing billions due to corruption. The Auditor General has recorded a minimum waste of 4 billion rands intended for post-school education and training that is lost through cadre deployment, bloated bureaucracy, and weak oversight. At the Education Training and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA alone, R637.6 million in one financial year’s records is to date unaccounted for. Taken together, SETAs represent an annual cost of roughly R20 billion and the NSF R5 billion, with far too little to show in terms of sustainable employment outcomes.

At the same time, TVET colleges remain underfunded and under pressure. South Africa has 50 registered public TVET colleges, serving campuses across the country, with 587,671 students enrolled in 2025, which was 94 percent of the annual target. Despite this demand, these institutions struggle with low completion rates, outdated infrastructure, and insufficient teaching capacity. The allocated budget of R14.7 billion for the 2026 to 2027 financial year is not enough to deliver the quality training required by a modern economy.

The DA’s position is clear. SCRAP SETAS and the NSF. Strengthen TVET colleges by expanding access, improving qualification quality, filling lecturer vacancies, and modernising workshops. This investment would strengthen the link between education and employment. The remaining funds must be repurposed toward more effective, transparent, and outcomes-driven initiatives that actively connect people to jobs.

With youth unemployment at 46.1 percent, South Africa cannot afford to continue funding systems that fail to deliver. Functional, well-resourced TVET colleges are central to unlocking economic growth and equipping young people with market-relevant skills. South Africans deserve a skills development system that works, one that prioritises opportunity over patronage and results over rhetoric.

Join the fight to stop the waste, scrap corrupt SETAs, and fund real skills that lead to real jobs.

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