Buti Manamela’s first test as Higher Education Minister questioned

Guest: Karabo Khakhau | DA National Spokesperson

Zain Johnson speaks to DA National Spokesperson, Karabo Khakhau. The DA has accused Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela of appointing corruption-implicated officials to Seta boards, calling it a repeat of ANC cadre deployment that undermines governance.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Join the conversation conversation you with Cape talk coming up
in a few minutes time. We have at tracked down
the spokesperson DA spokesperson and we will be chatting to
her in terms of the fact that Bhuttim Malamela's first
test as Higher Education Minister is being questioned DA National spokesperson.

(00:24):
Hopefully the will be chatting to us Carabo, how we'll
be chatting to us about that. But you know, if
we if you just have a look at a few
of the issues surrounding that particular decision and why. Butimlamela
is in trouble at the moment. Higher Education Minister is
under intense scrutiny after appointing officials facing corruption allegations to

(00:48):
head several struggling sector educational and training authorities known as seatus.
Now seaters form a very very important role and a
very important function within the spaces that they operate, and
you know, the DA has rejected these appointments, calling them
another case of A and C deployment that undermines good governance.

(01:10):
And we will hear a little later from the DA
Spokesperth National spokesperson, Carabo Jau and she'll be telling us exactly.
But if you look at the problems surrounding the seaters
and the appointment by Bhutimanamera. Higher Education Minister Boutimanamela has
announced new seater administrations for Services theater, the construction seater

(01:34):
and the local government seaters. Several appointees face corruption, fraud
and mismanagement allegations. Appointees include Oprah and Kwani implicated in
an eight hundred and twenty seven million mismanagement let, Lenordo
Masura linked to irregular four point four million Rand contract

(01:56):
and Zukile Maya Uvalo oversaw failed seater stability for eight
years and the seater. The theaters were established obviously to
address South Africa's skill shortage and improve employability, yet they
consume twenty listen to this, they consume twenty billion ran
in tax players funds each year while reaching just zero

(02:20):
point six percent of the workforce according to the latest study.
So it's a concern. It's an absolute because it's an
absolute concern that people who've been implicated in mismanagement and
irregular expenditure and all of those things that that particular
those particular people are then appointed by the now new

(02:44):
Minister for Higher Education buddhim Manamera A very good morning
to you, Carabo Howe and welcome to the Early Breakfast Show.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Good morning, thank you so much for having me, and
good morning to listen.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
I've actually just given a rundown of the appointees open Kane, Leno,
Masa and then of course Zugi Valo. These people are
implicated in in corruption, they implicated in mismanagement, and implicated
in fraud. What is the What is the DA's main

(03:17):
concern then was the latest seaty board appointments.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
So let's just get the context right. These are not
the appointments of board chairpersons like maybe did what Multima
Namela is doing here, So okay, let's just do this.
But each and there are twenty one seaters in the country.
Each one has accounting authorities like your executives like in
any company, and then we have the boards. So what

(03:45):
did in her tenure she appointed board chairpersons, right, and
that's what we thought that she withdrew and we also
father us relied about how she went about it, and
that's why we thought to get her fired. So that's one.
Now the account authorities terms have lapsed. Each and every
theater needs new authorities. According to the legislation right so

(04:07):
Bujima Namella then identifies the local government theater, the construction
seater and the services seater as part of the verse
performing seatres of between one and sides to put them
under administration, which is not a problem. The problem then
becomes use twice of administrators. So you can't have a

(04:27):
person like Opa, who's a former minicipal manager of the
imfull in a local municipality, who's implicated in a compario
forensic report implicating him in the mismanagement of eight hundred
and seventy two million rants, a comparing report that details
very clearly that there were contracts that were supposed to
be said that that we're extended, that there's a manipulation,

(04:50):
and how contracts were awarded that were kickbacks, the whole lot.
You can't have that person as an administrator. The second
person you have a little Anonamasa, who's not only a
former AMEC of the ANC in the Lumbopo Provincial government,
but is also the former Deputy Speaker of the Limpopo
Provincial Legislature for the ANC, but doing his thing as

(05:11):
the CEO of the Mersina Makato Special Economic Zone He
also has a forensic report that implicates him in fraud,
mismanagement of fund and corruption worth four hundred and four
point four million rans. That four point four million rans
it is stated in that report that him and he's

(05:32):
other people that he's working with so to manipulate the
dates of contracts to back date to justify payments that
were not supposed to be made. So work started on
that project, in that communications project in June, and then
he wented to beg they went and backdated it to
say it started in January, so that there's a six
months worth of statements of the mystic that's not a guy,

(05:56):
not the person as an administrator. Then you have Zuki Limbai.
He's currently the Deputy Director General responsible for Skills Development
in the Department of Higher Education, so all thirty one
seaters in the country report directly to him and they
have been directing. They have been reporting directly to him
since twenty seventeen. It's been eightys. So all the auditor

(06:18):
General findings that have been flagging financial issues within all
the seaters, all the outer investigations that have flagged afford
fraud and corruption, with all the whistle blowers that have
flaggedness management within these seaters who have been locked out
of the system and fired arbitarily for trying to fix

(06:39):
the system. Everything that's wrong that has happened has happened
under his watch. But a single soul is behind pass
the Auditor General even late last last meeting we had
with Parliament now this year, indicated that we don't have control,
We don't have consequence management control mechanisms in place. Zucula

(06:59):
is not putting anybody on terms, is not monitoring anybody's
and performance according in accordance with what the Auditational once
their recommendations are not implemented the way they're supposed to
be implemented. But it's a mess. There's no way that
guy is now suddenly going to wake up after eightys
of not being fit for purpose suddenly a good administrator.

(07:20):
That's our grad and and.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
The cities consumed twenty billion run in taxpayers funds each year,
but they only reached it up on six percent of
the workforce according to a study. What what is the
alternatives that the DA is proposing in in filling these positions? Carabo?

Speaker 2 (07:39):
Well, so the alternatives is we need clean, non compromise,
non corrupt professional public service servants to be able to
fill these positions. That's what we need. So Afflicans is
not short of this. It is unfortunate that for the
AOC and the SECP that when they think of people
that must be that must be employed shitty government jobs,

(08:00):
that they think of recycling A ANDC caters who are
compromised and implicated and corruption A care deployment for them
is still the modus operandi for state capture and that's
what we are against the democratical line. Theaters, yes, suspend
about twenty billion runs of the States fives every year,
but theaters also play an important role as far as
skills development in this country is concerned bridging the gap

(08:23):
between the poor and those who have opportunities to fight
for top opportunities. Right, So, the issue isn't whether we're
not the Department of Higher Education as for the Skills
Development Act should continue to upscale young people in this country.
The issue is the current model working and if so,
to what extent is it and to what extent is

(08:44):
it not. The bottom line is a lot of young
people in this country don't even know what theaters are.
There only some found out about what theaters are for
the first time when we were fighting about noble and
governance scandal and still to conduct. Some havn't really interfaced
with it in places like we're I come from involvem
in the Free State, people don't know those things because
they haven't met seaters and got to benefit. And for

(09:07):
those who have benefited from new Tator space, there's always
a question about the quality of training that they got
and the education. There's no tracking within the system of
where the people who have been trade have been placed,
what value has been given there. So the issue is
that we have accounting authorities and boards that have pretty
much used seaters as smoking as cash cows smoking the

(09:32):
state instead of delivering the skills developments that we want.
But because as asking just quickly asking the question of
whether or not we should have seatters is asking the
question of whether or not we should have a Department
of Basic education. That's not a question.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, exactly what is the next step for the DA
going forward?

Speaker 2 (09:49):
So waiting for the Minister to respond to us. We
wrote to him on Tuesday night. It is now Thursday morning.
I got an acknowledgment last night that the letter was received.
So we want him to respond and the response is simple, Yes,
I agree that I did the decision I thought was wrong.
I therefore withdraw.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
That's what we expect and that's the national spokesperson. Thank
you so much for your time this morning unpacking the
questioning the minister's appointment of a number of people. As
Puttim Manamelus, is first test this higher education minister question,
do you know of seaters? Do you know what they

(10:29):
do in this country? Do you know how they contribute
to skills development? If you don't give us a quarte