The Auditor-General has found that board member appointments at 15 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) were irregular and flouted governance rules, with some members appointed without mandatory vetting, verified qualifications, or completed criminal record checks. Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke concluded that the appointment process violated the Skills Development Act, according to reporting by Sowetan on 6 September 2026 and Sunday Times on 5 September 2026.
Maluleke said several appointments were made without public calls for nominations, without records explaining why candidates were eliminated, and with conflict-of-interest declarations completed only after the fact. “The appointment process followed was not compliant with the requirements of the Skills Development Act (SDA),” Maluleke said, as reported by Sunday Times. “To the extent that the SDA was contravened, there is irregular expenditure.”
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education said it was misled about the composition and independence of the panel that was supposed to oversee the appointments. The purported chairperson of the panel did not attend any of its meetings, raising questions about who actually ran the selection process, according to a parliamentary media statement.
Former higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane told Daily Maverick on 25 March 2026 that she failed to exercise sufficient oversight. “I did not exercise the level of oversight and due diligence required to ensure that the panel convened, deliberated and produced the necessary records and reports,” Nkabane said. “I take full and unreserved responsibility.”
Nkabane’s handling of the SETA appointments had already drawn parliamentary criticism and ethics findings before the AG report. On 24 March 2026, Parliament’s ethics committee found her guilty of gross misconduct for misleading Parliament, according to Mail & Guardian. She withdrew earlier chairperson appointments on 16 May 2025 and said the process would be reopened, The Citizen reported.
Current Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela called for a governance and performance reset at SETAs on 24 July 2026, according to SA News. The Portfolio Committee’s September 2025 report noted that delays in appointing accounting authorities left CEOs serving in interim roles, creating governance gaps that affected operations at multiple SETAs.
The failures carry direct consequences for communities across Cape Town and the Cape Flats, where residents rely on SETAs for artisan training, learnerships, and skills development funding. Governance breakdowns at these institutions can delay training programmes, disrupt employment pathways for young people, and erode public confidence in bodies meant to support workforce development.
Portfolio committee member Sihle Lonzi told Sunday Times the AG’s findings pointed to a deeper problem. “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.
The full text of the AG’s report has not been directly accessed by Cape Flats News, and the exact names of all 15 affected SETAs, the complete breakdown of individual board members who lacked vetting, and the total monetary value of irregular expenditure remain unconfirmed across multiple sources. Cape Flats News journalist Sipho Mpongwana will check with the Auditor-General’s office and the Department of Higher Education on 10 September 2026 for the full SETA list and expenditure figures.