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The auditor-general (AG) has found that the appointment of board members at 15 sector education and training authorities (Setas) was irregular, as key governance rules were flouted. Higher education & training minister Buti Manamela last year announced the appointment of various boards to run several Setas as his way of stabilising the institutions after a period of turmoil during the tenure of his predecessor, Nobuhle Nkabane. But AG Tsakani Maluleke has now found that some of those appointments were made without candidates undergoing the mandatory vetting process, that others did not have their qualifications verified and that in other cases criminal record checks were outstanding. In a report addressed to the higher education & training department, the AG details findings ranging from some Setas not making public calls for nominations, no records of why certain candidates were eliminated and instances where potential conflict of interest declaration forms were filled in after the fact. Maluleke stated that the appointment process followed was not compliant with the requirements of the Skills Development Act (SDA) and warned of the dire implications this could have on the financial compliance of the training authorities. “To the extent that the SDA was contravened, there is irregular expenditure. The noncompliance with the SDA will result in the Setas incurring irregular expenditure. Therefore, the department must make an assessment of all instances of irregular expenditure and ensure that they are accounted as such by the affected Setas,” she says in the report.Some board members were appointed based on old criminal check reports, and no recent checks were done prior to the appointments.In August last year, Manamela issued letters to Seta CEOs announcing the reopening of the call for nominations for the appointments to the boards. He asked them to consider all nominations received and to submit a report with six members recommended to represent organised labour, six members to represent organised employers and two members representing community organisations, professional bodies, bargaining councils or government departments. He also requested that background checks and verifications be undertaken in the processing of nominations, with declarations of interest, SAPS clearance certificates, citizenship checks, qualification verifications and a nomination letter submitted as documentary proof. However, during the audit, it was found that the list of recommended nominees that was supposed to be submitted to the department by Seta was not submitted to the auditors. Instead, the AG was given a document indicating whether or not the applicants had met the screening criteria, which the AG believes does not indicate whether applicants were recommended or not. This was evident in the mining and minerals Seta, commonly referred to as the MQA Seta, and the media, information and communication technologies Seta, known as MictSeta. The AG also flagged instances where more than the recommended number of members qualified for the appointment, yet there was no clear criteria of how names were eliminated. “There was no documented process or guidance for elimination of those members. This could have resulted in unfair disqualification.”This irregularity was found across 10 Setas, namely: the wholesale and retail Seta; the finance and accounting Seta; the culture, arts, tourism, hospitality and sport Seta; the MQA Seta;MictSeta; transport Seta; fibre processing and manufacturing Seta; manufacturing, engineering and related services Seta; health and welfare Seta; and insurance Seta.The AG said several board members on six Setas were appointed without submitting declarations of interest (wholesale and retail, MQA, MictSeta and the energy and water Seta). “We further noted that the declarations of interest of some members were signed after the submission date as stipulated.” Criminal checks for some appointed members of the food and beverage manufacturing Seta; health and welfare Seta; wholesale and retail Seta; safety and security Seta; and finance and accounting Seta were not done and not submitted for audit. In the finance and accounting Seta, criminal record checks for three board members were conducted on September 27 and October 8 and 14 2025, though they were appointed on September 26 that year. For the manufacturing Seta, criminal checks for 13 members were found to have been conducted only after the appointment date of September 26 last year. “Some board members were appointed based on old criminal check reports, and no recent checks were done prior to the appointments.” What the AG is showing us is the continuation of a minister who clearly has no regard for the law, who doesn’t know the Skills Development Act and wants to insist on deploying cadres and comrades even at the expense of good governance in our Setas— Sihle Lonzi, higher education portfolio committee member This was detected at the health and welfare Seta and the manufacturing Seta, with some of the submitted criminal record checks dating back to 2019. One safety and security Seta, a board member was found to have a criminal record. The AG said there was no documented evidence provided to indicate how this was considered by the Seta or the department during the evaluation and appointment processes. At nine Setas, the auditors found that there were several appointed board members who did not meet the qualification requirements, holding qualifications that are below the NQF level 7 stipulated. Approached for a response, Manamela declined to comment, saying the letter was addressed to the department of higher education & training and not the ministry.Higher education portfolio committee member Sihle Lonzi said they had long warned that Manamela was not following due process on these appointments. “What the AG is showing us is the continuation of a minister who clearly has no regard for the law, who doesn’t know the Skills Development Act and wants to insist on deploying cadres and comrades even at the expense of good governance in our Setas,” Lonzi said. “We are not surprised. We are past the stage of being disappointed by this minister. He has demonstrated himself to be the worst kind to take over in higher education.” The EFF MP told the Sunday Times he does not foresee Manamela surviving the problems confronting his department. “We definitely want him out. The NSFAS administrator high court ruling was scathing and was an indictment on the minister and his decision-making. We would have expected the president to act.”
