The Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane would’ve been utterly tone-deaf if she expected her proposed 2025/26 budget vote to pass without at least several parties registering their dissenting ‘nay’ this Tuesday (1 June) before the National Council of Provinces.
Earlier that day, the Democratic Alliance (DA) had ‘opened a criminal case against Nkabane for fraud and statutory offences under section 26 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislature Act 4 of 2004.’ Ever since it came to light that the Minister was appointing politically-connected individuals as chairpersons of the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta), she has come under a maelstrom of backlash. A viral video of her chewing gum during a Q&A committee session didn’t help her cause either.
These flagged appointments included Buyambo Mantashe (son of Minerals and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe), Nomusa Dube-Ncube the former KwaZulu-Natal Premier as well as Mike Mabuyakhulu, former ANC deputy chairperson in KZN. The furore came to a head during a committee meeting on 14 May which led to the eviction from Parliamentary proceedings of the EFF’s Sihle Lonzi.
Nkabane has subsequently withdrawn the appointments citing ‘public concerns’ and ‘the interest of good governance.’ But it would seem that neither the EFF nor the DA are prepared to accept the ipso facto withdrawal, with the DA’s Karabo Khakhau already having written to committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie requesting that the Minister be summoned to explain the appointments.
Wrote Khakhau: ‘These appointments raise serious concerns about the politicisation of institutions meant to serve all South Africans. Seta boards play a vital role in skills development and economic empowerment. They are not ANC cadre deployment havens, nor should they be misused as rewards for political loyalty.’
Still, the damage had been done, this time very publicly. Speculation has loomed large that Setas are just another in a plethora of public institutions being exploited as vehicles for corruption, nepotism and patronage. The simple fact that these appointments were leaked suggests that there are whistleblowers within Higher Education who are dissatisfied with how things are done.
OUTA investigations
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has long been uncovering malfeasance in the Services Seta in particular. In November 2018 they exposed a R163 million contract with Grayson Reed ‘a company which used a false name and charged the SETA exorbitant amounts for dubious services. In September 2019, the Services SETA finally ended that contract six months early, but failed to reclaim any of the money spent on it.’
In June 2023 they also exposed an overpriced R36 million contract with Five Star Communications and Projects for branding material. In this investigation they found that ‘Five Star was paid R36.962 million for providing branded items to SSETA, including charging R302 000 for a branded tender box, which OUTA estimated was over-inflated by 8 000% or at least R292 000.’
OUTA noted that ‘the SETAs’ failure to manage their funds responsibly fails the unemployed youth and our country as a whole.’
Other investigations by Corruption Watch also found that Setas were particularly ravaged by procurement irregularities and misappropriation of funds. The provinces most affected by said graft are Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
Pretoria News recently reported that a whistleblower in the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) has come forward to blow the lid on corruption at the authority. A probe into CETA found ‘among other things, that there was R738 million in discretionary grants awarded without accounting authority oversight, excessive salaries paid to executives, and the accreditation of non-compliant training providers.’
In the aftermath of the Minister’s U-turn, the DA has come out calling for president Cyril Ramaphosa to fire her. This is, no doubt a legitimate request, especially if one wishes to foster the veneer of a morally-inclined, clean government. If, however, the goal is to clean up the rot and ensure that culprits are held accountable, then you’d have to go a lot deeper than that, something which precedent shows, the president is adverse to doing.
Despite increasing calls for the complete removal of former justice minister, Thembi Simelane, who was embroiled in a controversial loan of over R500 000 taken out whilst she was mayor of Polokwane, Ramaphosa simply reshuffled her to the human settlements ministry. Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation David Mahlobo continues to serve in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet despite being fingered as a ‘key cog in the state capture project’ by the final Zondo commission report. (The ANC disciplinary committee has since cleared Mahlobo of misconduct.)
From the outside looking in, it seems that, what is in the best interests of the party often trumps what is important for South Africa. Furthermore, it seems Ramaphosa does not want to ruffle the feathers of those known to support him. As a result, despite impassioned claims to come down hard on corruption, this has proved to be nothing but empty words. OUTA have recently found that not only has it continued in the GNU, but has gotten worse.
In an IOL interview CEO of OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage expressed that corruption had gotten worse ‘because the networks that exist within many of the government departments, especially in higher education and transport, are still plundering away.’ The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has also been the subject of corruption allegations which had its previous board dissolved and the institution placed under administration.
This suggests that no matter who is at the top, they cannot stem the corruption. And, according to advocate Paul Hoffman of Accountability Now neither will the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as it ‘is not independent enough to deal with serious corruption, as it operates under the control of the Department of Justice.’
He concludes that any body tasked with effectively tackling corruption should be outside of executive control. Suddenly one is reminded of The Scorpions, the once elite crime-fighting unit that wasn’t playing around or taking any prisoners. They were so good at their job that the ANC just had to disband them so that the looting could continue and the cares kept out of jail. One cannot say if Thabo Mbeki regrets the decision to disband the unit. But if there’s one thing we can all agree on, the looters nowadays have no sleepless nights.