THE Democratic Alliance (DA) has dismissed Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela's decision to appoint three Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) administrators.
The party said Oupa Nkoane, Lehlohonolo Masoga and Zukile Mvalo are implicated in a corruption scheme involving R800 million within the Seta.
DA spokeswoman and member of the Committee on Higher Education and Training Karabo Khakhau said: "These appointees are unfit - implicated in corruption, mismanagement, fraud in previous government jobs - or have proven themselves useless in the Seta space, already."
She said she has written an urgent letter to Manamela to demand his reconsideration of these appointments and withdrawal of his announcement.
Manamela appointed Nkoane as the Construction Seta administrator, Masoga as Services Seta administrator, and Mvalo as Local Government Seta administrator.
He said the move is to stabilise three embattled authorities that have been rocked by mismanagement and corruption scandals for years.
"Governance failures cannot be allowed to erode the public's confidence in our skills development system," said Manamela during the announcement.
"These administrators have a clear mandate to restore integrity, enforce consequence management, and ensure that learners and workers are not prejudiced. Our goal is to reposition Setas so they can contribute effectively to the fight against unemployment, poverty, and inequality."
Manamela replaced fired former higher education and training minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane.
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Nkabane was also accused of appointing ANC cadres to the Setas.
"Will Minister Manamela fail his first test of ANC cadre deployment, or will he go down the same path as Nobuhle Nkabane?" said Khakhau.
Nkoane is a former municipal manager at the ANC-governed Emfuleni Local Municipality in Gauteng.
He is implicated in a forensic report that details mismanagement of R872 million in this municipality.
Masoga is a former ANC Limpopo MEC and Deputy Speaker.
He was implicated in a forensic report by the forensic services company Morar for backdating a communications contract valued at R4,4 million while serving as CEO of the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone.
This was seen to justify unjustified payments made to the communications company, Mahuma Group.
Mvalo is the current deputy director-general responsible for skills development in the Higher Education department, and has been since 2017.
All 21 Setas have been reporting directly to him for the past eight years.
"Minister Manamela announced these appointments, saying they are to address serious and entrenched governance failures in these entities, including procurement irregularities, lapses in oversight, and board instability. How on earth can this be addressed by corruption, fraud, and mismanagement implicated ANC cadres?
"We demand that Manamela stop this and appoint independent non-political persons free of corruption implications to deliver an effective turnaround of the system," said Khakhau.
