Minister Nkabane Pressured to Reveal Identities Behind Controversial SETA Board Appointments
Mounting Tensions Over Secret SETA Board Appointments
South Africa’s Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane stands at the center of a political storm, as calls for her to expose a secretive selection panel intensify. The controversy kicked off after it emerged the panel picked 20 individuals with clear ties to the ANC for positions on boards of the country’s Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). The government received over 500 applications, but high-profile names linked to the ruling party quickly raised alarms.
Among those flagged were Gwebinkosi Qonde, currently advising ANC National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe, and Buyambo Mantashe, the chairperson’s own son. Former ANC political heads Nomusa Dube and Michael Mabuyakhulu were also selected, making it look more like a political cabal than a skills-focused group. After their appointments were announced, an immediate wave of criticism from watchdog groups, civil society, and the public forced officials to backtrack and withdraw these names by the middle of May 2025.
The fact that the identities of the selection panel remain hidden has only fueled suspicion. Critics claim that behind closed doors, Nkabane enabled a process that ignored merit and prioritized politics, casting *SETA panel* boards as yet another ANC stronghold. With the nation already grappling with record high youth unemployment and skills shortages, these board roles have never been more crucial. Questions are swirling about how far political interference stretches in spaces meant to boost young people’s prospects.
Legal and Political Fireworks in Parliament
Amid the widespread uproar, the Democratic Alliance didn’t sit quietly. The party responded by using formal legal avenues, submitting a request under Section 14 of the Powers and Privileges Act. Their move: to force Minister Nkabane to appear before Parliament and disclose exactly who served on this secretive panel, and on what basis they chose their favored candidates. They cited Rule 167(a), which holds state officials accountable by compelling them to hand over evidence and official documents to parliamentary committee chairs—this time, Tebogo Letsie is in the hot seat, overseeing the process.
This isn’t the first instance where transparency has taken a hit. During a heated committee session at the end of May, Minister Nkabane was asked directly for details on the panel. She stonewalled, leading to allegations of dodging and disrespect. When accused of not taking the session seriously—after she was seen eating during proceedings—Nkabane said she’d done so with the chair’s permission and asked South Africans to watch the entire session rather than snippets circulating online.
A separate blunder only deepened skepticism: Nkabane named advocate Terry Motau as the panel chair, a claim Motau quickly rejected. She later apologized, but the error added more fuel to the fire for those demanding answers. The apology, delivered under mounting public and media scrutiny, hasn’t done much to quell public concern about the way these appointments were handled.
The minister’s recent failure to meet a June deadline for submitting the panel’s names to Parliament has only raised the temperature. Opposition lawmakers say it shows a pattern of avoidance and heightens worries that SETA boards are at risk of turning into political patronage clubs—undermining their mission to tackle unemployment and skill shortages. At the same time, ordinary citizens see this as yet another example of political gamesmanship coming at the expense of a generation’s future.
How this saga plays out now depends partly on Parliament’s willingness to enforce transparency. The pressure isn’t going anywhere, and South Africa’s lookout for fair and honest handling of public institutions grows sharper with every twist in this story.