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Higher education and training minister Buti Manamela is facing mounting political pressure to abolish the controversy-plagued sector education and training authorities (Setas).The 21 Setas were established more than 25 years ago to develop workplace skills, but have largely failed to meet the needs of the market and help drive economic growth. While a handful of Setas have been given a clean bill of health by the auditor-general, many are dogged by corruption and poor governance.On Tuesday, several MPs, including those from the DA and EFF, used the minister’s budget vote debate in parliament to call attention to the problems in the skills development sector, and urged him to scrap the Setas. “The time has come to replace Setas with a system that allows industry and the private sector to procure their skills development needs directly from accredited training institutions and providers,” said deputy higher education minister Mimmy Gondwe, who is a member of the DA.The system could be funded via tax write-offs and would give industry and the private sector a direct interest in ensuring their skills development needs were met. Earlier this month, the DA launched a petition to abolish the Setas and the National Skills Fund and redirect their funds to strengthening technical and vocational education training (TVET) colleges. “At a time when youth unemployment among South Africans aged 15 to 24 years stands at a staggering 60.9%, the government can no longer afford to preserve systems that consistently fail young people,” said DA MP Delmaine Christians. “For too long, Setas have been plagued by inefficiency, bureaucracy, poor oversight and a disconnect between training programmes and the real needs of the labour market. South Africa’s skills development framework must become demand-driven, outcomes-based and aligned with economic growth sectors,” she said in a statement after the debate.The EFF’s Sihle Lonzi suggested redirecting Seta funding to train a “municipal infrastructure youth battalion”, equipped with the skills required for jobs ranging from brick laying to fixing potholes. “The billions we spend on our Setas are not producing the results that we need,” he said.The EFF has challenged Manamela’s appointment of eight Seta CEOs. It asked the high court in Pretoria last year to declare the appointments invalid and set them aside on the grounds that due process had not been followed.Action SA’s Malebo Kobe drew attention to the weak governance in the sector, highlighting the recent news that the administrator of the construction Seta had awarded himself a R3m salary without proper authorisation from the minister. ‘The Setas continue to make headlines for all the wrong reasons,” she said. Manamela conceded that the Setas needed improvement, but said they needed “urgent reform”, rather than abolition.Business Day
