Members of Parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education and training believe that Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has misled them about the composition of a panel responsible for recommending appointments to the boards of Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas).
The committee members say that Nkabane was not truthful in her initial assertion that the panel members are independent.
They want her to provide the minutes of the meetings held by the panel, where recommendations were made on who should be appointed to chair Setas.
Portfolio committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie has requested that Nkabane appear in Parliament again to explain the process that led to the Setas chair appointments.
Purported chair did not attend meetings
“We will write to the minister to inform her of our intention to summon her before the committee to provide answers regarding the Seta board appointments,” Letsie said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are extremely disappointed by the list we have received, especially after having spent the entire day on 30 May interrogating the issue of the panel’s independence.
“It does not inspire confidence when officials appear before Parliament and misrepresent facts.”
On Tuesday, officials released the names of the five-member panel responsible for selecting 21 chairpersons for Seta boards.
Advocate Terry Motau is listed as chairperson of the panel alongside Asisipho Solani, Nelisiwe Semane, Mabuza Ngubane, and Rhulani Ngwenya.
However, the portfolio committee finds it problematic that Motau did not attend any of the panel meetings.
“Furthermore, the committee is alarmed by the revelation in the minister’s letter that the purported chairperson of the panel did not attend any of its meetings, raising further questions about who chaired the panel meetings and oversaw the selection of candidates for Seta boards,” according to Letsie.
Close ties to the minister
The other panellists have close ties with the minister. Solani is a former youth leader in the ANC and is one of her advisors; Semane is the chief of staff in her office; Ngwenya is the deputy director-general of corporate services in the department, while Ngubane is listed as a chief director for Seta coordination.
Meanwhile, the DA has referred Nkabane to the ethics committee for misleading the portfolio committee about the panel being an autonomous body.
The release of the names comes after pressure from the portfolio committee following concerns around the appointment of ANC-aligned Seta chairpersons.
Nkabane was unable to meet her deadline of June 11, as she was seeking a legal opinion about the matter.
The legal opinion explained that she was within her rights to release the names, but Nkabane was concerned about the backlash that could affect the members of the panel.
She then wrote to each of the members of the selection and evaluation panel and advised them of her intention to comply and asked the portfolio committee that her deadline be extended to June 30.
The minister has been facing public scrutiny for appointing politically linked individuals to chair Setas.
Selection of Mantashe’s son
She was hauled before the portfolio committee to answer questions surrounding the matter two weeks ago.
MPs instructed Nkabane to provide the names of the panellists and the details of the appointment process.
Notably, the selection of Buyambo, the son of ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, raised questions.
He was selected to chair the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority board.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal coordinator Mike Mabuyakhulu, former deputy communications minister Philemon Mapulane, former KwaZulu-Natal premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, former KwaZulu-Natal sports MEC Amanda Mapena, and City of Joburg MMC Loyiso Masuku were also selected.
The minister later reversed the appointments.
