Sunday Times reports that hundreds of millions of rands are going down the drain due to the shortcomings of sector education & training authorities (Setas). They include overpayments, failure to meet targets and conflicts of interest on the part of board members.
Meant to address skills shortages and improve the overall quality of education and training in SA, these entities have been riddled with corruption and maladministration, with poor accountability systems leading to millions being spent with little to show. The last audited financial statements, for financial 2024, show dire problems of irregular expenditure amounting to more than R700m for that year and the previous year. Shortly before her axing last week, former Higher Education & Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane said measures had been put in place to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of Setas, including quarterly performance reviews and ad hoc performance assessment review sessions with the audit and risk committees. According to Wayne Duvenage of Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, a quick way to address maladministration, corruption and poor governance in Setas would be the appointment of “strong, apolitical and experienced board chairpersons and members”. Duvenage said political patronage and the deliberate appointment of connected cadres was to blame for the way Setas had become riddled with corruption and maladministration. Prof Alex van den Heever of Wits University School of Governance said the corruption in Setas flowed directly from “the corporate governance designs, embedded in statute, that expose them to capture via the executive of government”. He pointed out that the Seta system was vulnerable to substantial patronage directed through the political party that appointed the minister of higher education.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Isaac Mahlangu at Sunday Times (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA LabourNews home page