Minister Nkabane in hot water over SETA graft

By Phakamisa Mayaba

The minister of higher education and training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane, would’ve been utterly tone-deaf if she expected her proposed 2025/6 budget to pass without at least some parties registering their dissenting ‘nay’ before the National Council of Provinces in the past week.

Before the debate, the Democratic Alliance (DA) opened a criminal case against her for ‘fraud and statutory offences under section 26 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislature Act 4 of 2004’. In a statement, the DA said it had laid the charges against the minister for ‘lying to Parliament about ANC cadre appointments’.

Ever since it came to light that the minister was appointing politically connected individuals to the board of the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta), she has been at the centre of a growing political storm. A viral video of her chewing gum during a Q&A committee session has also not helped her cause.

The controversial appointments included Buyambo Mantashe (son of minerals and petroleum resources minister Gwede Mantashe), Nomusa Dube-Ncube, former premier of KwaZulu-Natal, and 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Nkabane has subsequently withdrawn the appointments, citing ‘public concerns’ and the ‘interest of good governance.’ However, the DA’s Karabo Khakhau had already written to committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie requesting that the Minister be summoned to explain them.

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.’

Tthe damage had been done, and very publicly. It has bolstered views that SETAS are among a plethora of public institutions being misused as vehicles for corruption, nepotism and patronage. The fact that these appointments were leaked suggests that there are whistleblowers in the department of higher education who are also dissatisfied with how things are done.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has long sought to uncover malfeasance in the Services Seta in particular. In November 2018 it exposed a R163 million contract with Grayson Reed, which had used a false name and charged the SETA exorbitant amounts for dubious services. According to OUTA, The Services SETA finally ended that contract six months early, but failed to reclaim any of the money spent on it.

In June 2023 it also exposed an overpriced R36 million contract with Five Star Communications and Projects for providing branding material. It found that Five Star was paid almost R37 million providing branded items to S-SETA, including R302 000 for a branded tender box, which OUTA estimated was overinflated by 8 000% or at least R292 000. According to OUTA, ‘the SETAs’ failure to manage their funds responsibly fails the unemployed youth and our country as a whole.’

Corruption Watch has also found that SETAS are ‘ravaged by procurement irregularities and the misappropriation of funds’. The provinces most affected by 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. Among other things, a probe found that R738 million in discretionary grants had been awarded without accounting authority oversight, executivfew had been paid excessive salaries, and non-compliant training providers had been accredited.

Following Nkabane’s U-turn, the DA has called for her dismissal – a legitimate request, especially if one wants to maintain the veneer of clean and effective governance. But if the goal is to clean up the rot and ensure that miscreants are held accountable, you’d have to go a lot deeper than that, something which, recent evidence shows, president Cyril Ramaphosa is averse to doing.

When, some weeks ago, controversy broke out about a loan taken by then justice minister Thembi Simelane while she was mayor of Polokwane, Ramaphosa simply moved her to the human settlements ministry.

And David Mahlobo, deputy minister of water and sanitation, remains in Ramaphosa’s cabinet despite being fingered as a ‘key cog in the state capture project’ by the Zondo commission. (The ANC disciplinary committee has since cleared him of misconduct.)

Looking at this from the outside, it seems that the ANC’s best interests often trump those of South Africa. Specifically, it seems that Ramaphosa is reluctant to act against people qho support him politically. As a result, his repeated promises to eradicate government corruption have largely been empty.

According to OUTA, corruption  has not only continued, but gotten worse. In an interview with IOL, its CEO, Wayne Duvenage, said the networks within many the government departments, especially in higher education and transport, were still ‘plundering away’.

This includes the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Following the msot recent allegations of corruption, its board was dissolved, and it was placed under administration.

According to Advocate Paul Hoffman of Accountability Now, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is not independent enough to deal with serious corruption, as it operates under the control of the Department of Justice. In his view, any body tasked with tackling corruption should be outside of executive control.

But hang on – didn’t we have something like that before? We did indeed – it was called the Scorptions (fomally, the Directorate of Special Operations), and was formed in 1999 by President Thabo Mbeki to investigate and prosecute high-level crimes including organised crime and corruption. A independent unit in the National Prosecuting Authority, it took no prisoners, and was involved in a number high-profile investigations, especially into the Arms Deal, as well as high-ranking ANC figures such as Jackie Selebi, Tony Yengeni and Jacob Zuma.

So what happened to it? Well, in case you’ve forgotten, the story goes like this: when, in 2007, Zuma ran for the ANC presidency against Mbeki, a key theme in his campaign was that the Scorpions should be dispbanded. After electing Zuma, the Polokwane conference also resolved that the Scorpions should be disbanded, and this duly happened during the next parliamentary session. Scorpions prosecutors were absorbed into other branches of the NPA, while investigators were moved to the new Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks. No prizes for guessing why.

FEATURED IMAGE: Dr Nobuhle Nkabane (in red) at a Youth Month function in early June. Source: Image on X.