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The Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mduduzi Manana, told the Higher Education Portfolio Committee today that not only amber, but red lights are flashing with regard to Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).

Mr Manana describes the situation perfectly.

SETA Annual Reports for 2011/12 once again show that these entities are not equipped to use the nearly R8 billion allocated to them on a yearly basis to deliver on their mandate to promote scarce skills.

Parliament must urgently debate the continued relevance of SETAs and discuss whether SETAs still have a future in the education and training landscape of South Africa.

The Auditor-General (AG) told the portfolio committee today that 11 out of 23 SETAs received audit opinions ranging from qualified to disclaimers.

Some of the most concerning findings on SETAs noted by the AG include the following:

• Irregular expenditure has increased by more than 100% from R160 million in 2010/11 to R402 million in 2011/12, mainly due to irregularities with supply chain management.
• The Local Government SETA received a disclaimer for its financial statements and a disclaimer for its predetermined objectives because it simply failed to submit its annual report.
• Material misstatements are also problematic, with the AG routinely indicating that the reported information was not useful or reliable.

The different SETAs will be appearing before the Portfolio Committee during the next few weeks to explain their audit findings.  I will use these opportunities to ensure that their management boards present clear plans to ensure that this situation is reversed.

In a country suffering from serious skills shortages we cannot afford to allocate significant funds to entities that fail to contribute to addressing skills backlogs.