The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that board members at the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA (merSETA) were paid a staggering R6.29 million in the 2023/24 financial year, on top of the Chairperson’s separate remuneration of R924,000.
This makes it one of the most expensive boards in the entire SETA system; three to six times more costly than others such as the FP&M SETA.
It is no coincidence that Gwede Mantashe’s son was to be deployed to this Board, until the DA intervened to expose this brazen cadre deployment, and we succeeded in stopping it in its tracks. It was to be an ANC-insider feeding frenzy, until the DA intervened.
The information on these SETA board salaries comes from a DA Parliamentary Question.
While thousands of young graduates’ queue for jobs and many are forced to abandon their studies due to NSFAS failures, politically connected individuals continue to benefit from lucrative board appointments.
The Auditor-General continues to flag poor governance, irregular expenditure, and inadequate oversight at many SETAs, while board members take their pay without consequences.
The DA demands that new Minister of Higher Education, Buti Manamela, breaks with this corrupt legacy to do the right thing.
The DA calls for the Auditor-General to do a full audit of all SETA board remuneration and performance.
The DA will also put questions to Parliament demanding disclosure of political affiliations of board members and the criteria used to appoint them. And with that information where needed we will push for forensic investigations into possible collusion, fraud and undeserved payments.
The DA will continue to put students at the centre of every decision made in the post-school education and training sector – because if the SETAs become ANC cadre employment schemes, students will be the ones who suffer.