The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) welcomes the decision by the Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Nobuhle Nkabane, to withdraw all recently appointed SETA Board Chairpersons, as confirmed in her 15 May 2025 statement.
We regard this as a direct response to public outrage, trade union mobilisation, and sustained media exposure of a process tainted by political patronage, cadre deployment, and a breakdown of democratic governance.
But SAFTU also cautions: this must not be a tactical withdrawal, only to reappoint the same individuals under slightly altered conditions. The rot in the SETAs goes deeper and must now be addressed at its source.
SAFTU is also concerned about the implications appointment delays will have on the functions of the SETAs. The term of the previous boards concluded on the 31st of March 2025, and as of 1st April 2025, the new boards were supposed to have taken over. Currently, SETAs are without the accounting authorities, what will become of needy students and the graduates to whom bursaries and grants must be disbursed when there is no accounting authority?
A History of Power Centralisation and Governance Erosion
The current crisis is not simply about poor appointments — it is the result of a deliberate erosion of tripartite governance over more than a decade. As early as 2012, then-Minister Blade Nzimande began centralising powers in the Ministry to control SETA boards, sidelining trade unions and business stakeholders.
By 2015, these changes triggered public outcry and legal challenges, as the Department pushed regulatory amendments to make the Minister the sole authority in SETA appointments. In 2019, Nzimande’s revised regulations fully consolidated the power to appoint board chairpersons, eliminating the consensus-based, tripartite model envisioned in the Skills Development Act of 1998.
SAFTU and other worker organisations opposed these moves from the start, warning that they would open the door to political capture and corruption. That is precisely what unfolded.
The Rotten Fruits of Patronage and Deployment
The now-withdrawn appointments were not simply poor choices — they were products of a patronage system. The following individuals were among those appointed, and must be permanently excluded from any future shortlist:
- Buyambo Mantashe – son of Minister Gwede Mantashe (Mineral Resources and Energy), appointed as Chairperson of MERSETA;
- Nomusa Dube-Ncube – former Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, appointed to BANKSETA;
- Loyiso Lugayeni-Masuku – ANC Johannesburg leader and spouse of Bandile Masuku, lacking relevant experience;
- Siboniso Mbhele – senior official in the KZN Department of Transport;
- Zakhele Buthelezi – CFO of Gert Sibande District Municipality;
- Lungelo Ncwane – without any trade union or business background;
- Phillemon Mapulane – ANC deployee recycled into public entities;
- Gwebinkundla Qonde – former Director-General of Higher Education, architect of the centralisation agenda, who had a public fallout with Minister Nzimande and was later recycled as advisor to Minister Gwede Mantashe.
SAFTU welcomes the formal withdrawal of Gwebs Qonde’s appointment, as confirmed by the Minister on 15 May 2025. However, we strongly object to his quiet redeployment as an advisor to the very political network involved in the MERSETA controversy. This reflects how cadre deployment operates: when the public pushes one door closed, another is quietly opened behind the scenes.
SETAs Have Been Corrupted for Years — and Impunity Still Reigns
The capture of SETAs is part of a broader collapse of public skills institutions, looted and mismanaged at the expense of workers and the youth.
- In February 2018, President Jacob Zuma signed an SIU proclamation to investigate large-scale corruption at the Safety and Security SETA (SASSETA) — involving ghost providers, inflated tenders, and grant abuse. No accountability followed.
- In 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa issued Proclamation R41, extending the SIU’s investigations to include Services SETA, HWSETA, and others. Evidence of procurement fraud, ghost learners, and corrupt training schemes emerged. Yet prosecutions remain absent.
- The Auditor-General has repeatedly flagged:
- R160 million in irregular spending in one financial year at Services SETA;
- Failure to implement basic financial controls;
- Continued non-compliance with public finance legislation;
- Lack of consequence management across multiple SETAs.
Despite years of exposure, those implicated continue to operate with impunity — recycled into new positions, appointed to new boards, or shifted sideways into advisory roles.
The Minister’s Statement: A Step Forward, But Watch the Next Steps
SAFTU cautiously welcomes Minister Nkabane’s commitment to:
- Reopen nominations with public input;
- Appoint a new independent vetting panel;
- Emphasise merit, representation, and transparency;
- Balance appointments by race, gender, geography, and disability inclusion.
However, unless the process explicitly excludes all previously flagged individuals, we will treat it as a smokescreen. We remind the Minister that geographic bias in the original appointments — heavily skewed toward KwaZulu-Natal — was a key concern, suggesting the process was packed with her provincial allies. That mistake must not be repeated.
SAFTU’s Non-Negotiable Demands
- Permanent exclusion of previously flagged names from all reappointment lists;
- Full public disclosure of:
- All nominees and their affiliations;
- Vetting procedures and criteria;
- Final reasons for selection;
- Restoration of tripartite governance as per the original intent of the Skills Development Act;
- Parliamentary oversight of SETA governance going forward;
- Release of SIU and Auditor-General reports, and criminal prosecutions of those implicated in looting skills funds.
Conclusion: This Must Be a Turning Point
The withdrawal of the appointments is a people’s victory — the result of civil society vigilance, union mobilisation, and public outrage. But unless the entire logic of political deployment is dismantled, the crisis will reproduce itself.
The SETAs are not deployment centres. They exist to train workers, skill the youth, and build a productive economy. SAFTU will continue to fight against all attempts to privatise, loot or capture them — in the name of workers, the unemployed, and the Constitution.
We will not allow recycled cadres to return through the back door. SETAs must belong to the people.
A Statement was issued on behalf of SAFTU by General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.
For more details, contact the National Spokesperson at:
Newton Masuku
066 168 2157
Newtonm@saftu.org.za
