Individuals who were recently appointed to be board chairpersons of several SETAs have had their appointments withdrawn Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane said in her letters to the various individuals that the selection process would be run afresh.
“Following developments relating to the process of appointing CETA chairpersons, which requires my further attention and consideration, kindly be informed that I have taken a decision to receive the letter issued to you as CETA chairperson with immediate effect,” said Nkabane in the standardised letters.
EFF Youth Command interim leader and MP Sihle Lonsi was quick to claim credit after raising the matter during a heated meeting of the portfolio committee on higher education which resulted in his violent ejection from the proceedings on the directive committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie who strongly felt questions about the board appointments were irrelevant in the minister’s absence.
“We are reliably informed that President Ramaphosa has cracked the whip!He has instructed the Minister of Higher Education to restart the entire process. People have already started receiving letters like the one below sent to Gwede’s advisor I spoke about.We are shaking them,he said on X.The ANC said it welcomed the minster’s decision stating it reaffirmed the party’s commitment to accountability and institutional integrity.”
The ANC has been reassured by our deployee, the Minister, that the recalibrated process will be conducted in a manner that is fair, transparent, and fully compliant with the Skills Development Act. We are satisfied that all due diligence will be observed during recruitment, and that all candidates will be appointed in accordance with the principles of merit, representative, good governance, and public accountability. As a movement, we remain committed to ensuring that such critical public processes reflect the highest standards of ethicalleadership and institutional integrity. Minister Nkabane’s commitment to merit, transformation, and clean administration reflects the ANC’s foundational values of discipline, service, and responsibility. The decision to publish a new Gazette and open nominations reinforces public participation, not party-political spectacle,” said the ANC in a statement.
“We remind the public that it was the EFF that raised the alarm about theseappointments both inside and outside Parliament. It was the EFF that exposed theincestuous political networks at play, and it was an EFF Member of Parliament whowas manhandled by parliamentary security in a portfolio committee while demandingaccountability. That the Minister has now reversed these appointments without givinga full explanation is clear confirmation that the political pressure exerted by the EFF has forced her hand. However, the matter does not end here. The Minister must account to the people of South Africa. She must publicly explain why she saw it fit to abuse her powers in thefirst place,” said the EFF in a statement.