The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) on Friday announced that it had received new evidence implicating three sector education and training authorities (Seta) in corruption and wasteful expenditure and was seeking further information from the public on corruption, maladministration and wasteful expenditure within the entities.

The organisation said the Construction Seta; the Education, Training and Development Practice Seta, as well as the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Seta were now on Outa’s radar.

Outa said in a statement that it also has growing evidence of corruption at the Services Seta including irregular payments made to one company in less than 48 hours for questionable purchases, namely for the purchase of 20 000 exam pads at R214 each, 30 000 lanyards at R166 per lanyard, and 30 000 USBs at R167 per item.

“It appears that Setas are not preparing the youth for employment, but rather robbing them of the opportunity to participate in the economy meaningfully,” said Outa.

Outa portfolio manager for special projects Dominique Msibi said the organisation will be raising the matter with the Ministry of Higher Education which has requested an urgent meeting with Outa since the release of its public statement.

“We will also be meeting with the CEO of SAQA (the South African Qualifications Authority) to explore these transgressions,” said Msibi.

She said the organisation was deeply disturbed and shocked by the depth and span of corruption and how it has been woven into the system.

Msibi added that Setas were cash cows that were exploiting South Africa’s youth, preying on their desperation for employment, and using taxes to do this.

Outa maintained that it intends investigating each case and requests individuals with information to come forward with their testimony or evidence.