Better heads at the helm

The sector education and training authorities (SETAs) manage about R20 billion a year in funds raised directly from employers. OUTA – a civil society organisation that fights against corruption, waste, and inefficiency in public spending – wants to see ethical, independent, and qualified individuals on SETA boards.

There has been significant recent confusion regarding the appointment of new board chairs for the 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, accompanied by 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. The SETA CEOs were also encouraged to invite nominations for board members. 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.

Concerns were raised when a list was leaked containing the selected new SETA board chairs, which included family members of ministers (such as the son of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe) and apparent political allies of President Cyril Ramaphosa. 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.

“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.”

Duvenage adds that the skills development levies – which are paid by employers and fund the SETAs – should be put to good use rather than being looted, as has happened far too frequently in the past.