SETA management: Nzimande fails to answer to Scopa

A scheduled meeting of Scopa was terminated prematurely on Tuesday, 22 February 2011, when both Minister Blade Nzimande and Ms. Hlengiwe Mkhize, his Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, failed to attend. The executive was to answer to parliament regarding the dire situation at the Energy Sector Education and Training Authority (ESETA). In addition to the members of Scopa, representatives of the office of the Auditor-General (AG) and ESETA were waiting in vain for a representative of the executive.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) first called for a forensic audit of ESETA four years ago. The Mbeki administration failed to act at the time. This call was followed by another three years of disclaimers by the Auditor-General regarding the financial statements of ESETA.  It was only in September 2010 that Minister Nzimande appointed an administrator for the SETA.  The board of the ESETA was disbanded and the service agreement with the CEO, Funamna Mankaye, terminated. Scopa was hoping to find answers from those responsible for ESETA as to who would be accepting accountability for this situation. Scopa also hoped to hear what was being done to turn the situation around.

The Auditor-General's 2009/2010 report on ESETA cites a long list of reasons why the AG was unable to express an audit opinion. The report speaks, inter alia, of errors in previous years that were not corrected, over- and understatements of amounts in the financial statements, and missing supporting documents for journal entries. Documentation for an amount of R1 348 000 relating to employee costs was found lacking.

While the damning report by the Auditor-General's office speaks of poor financial management, the greatest damage lies in the missed opportunity to address the skills shortages in the energy, and particularly the electricity sector. The DA has received various complaints of small training providers that have been struggling to get paid for training services rendered to the SETAs. The maladministration of SETAs is costing the country thousands of jobs.

The DA will be putting parliamentary questions to Minister Nzimande, to hear why neither he, nor his deputy, has appeared before Scopa. We trust that he himself will be present when ESETA is recalled to answer to parliament.

Statement issued by Andricus van der Westhuizen MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, February 23 2011

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