Broken promises — how SA’s Seta system leaves young job seekers behind

With youth unemployment at 45% for 15- to 34-yearolds, South Africa continues to grapple with a persistent and deepening challenge to get young people into jobs. For many of them the transition from higher education into meaningful, sustainable employment is fraught with frustration, uncertainty and systemic barriers.

This is why the Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) were set up: to bridge this critical gap by ensuring sector-specific skills development that are aligned to needs, and by facilitating workplace-based learning opportunities.

However, as Daily Maverick has reported, the nation’s 21 Setas have been crippled by corruption, governance issues and substantial institutional challenges that have hindered them from fully realising their mandate – and the biggest losers of this failure are the young people the Setas are meant to empower.

“I trained as a stenographer for four months, then they sent me to train as a clerk of the court for another three months. I worked hard to learn everything I could because the learnership was all I needed to complete my diploma in public management,” Ongeziwe Nota told Daily Maverick.

The now 28-year-old went through the Seta-funded training in 2020, but five years later she says she has not been able to secure a job despite the workplace learning opportunity.

“I have not had a job since 2020. Every time I apply they tell me that I don’t have the right skills and that I don’t have experience. It’s hard for me to understand because I thought that having done the programme at the Department of Justice, at least that would mean something on my CV,” she said.

Asked whether she thought the learnership was enough to prepare her for entering the working world, Nota said: “My training was not enough. I expected to be trained in different roles in the court, but they only took me to two places. I left without knowing anything about DV, maintenance or financial systems. But even the training I did get was not enough because no one wants to hire me.”

Read more: Outa says Sector Education and Training Authorities need complete overhaul for job creation

System out of step with change

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Ravi Naidoo, CEO of the Youth Employment Service (YES), offered insight into why the Setas have been ineffective in fulfilling their mandate, and a sobering assessment of the Seta landscape.

At the heart of Naidoo’s critique is a mismatch between what Setas deliver and what the labour market demands.

“Let’s say there’s artificial intelligence happening, people need to learn about new technologies. It’ll take us four years to put in place a new curriculum. That’s too slow. By the time it’s out the sector has already moved on. The Seta system needs to be reformed. Right now it is very complex, bureaucratic and not properly aligned to the demand side of the economy,” he explained.

In a fast-changing world, the Setas function like “a supertanker when we need a smaller, faster boat”, Naidoo said, drawing attention to how institutional inertia is stifling innovation. “The Seta model is really an old, big industry, big labour, industrial model. It made sense in the 1960s, but it doesn’t work now.”

The problem was not simply poor execution, it was structural. Even with improved efficiency, Naidoo argues that the current vehicle is essentially “the wrong vehicle”.

Failure to pay stipends

Students have also endured hardships due to the lack of transparency and funding by the Setas, which have various functions designed to upskill, develop and fund students in the post-school education sector. 

Read more: Cracks in the skills system — allegations of corruption, waste, cover-ups in SA’s Setas (Part 1)

Daily Maverick spoke to a student from rural Ebuhleni village in Mpumalanga, who wished to remain anonymous. He was studying finance at Ehlanzeni TVET College and was scheduled to complete his training at Joy Home-Based Care in Barberton, Mbombela.

However, he was unable to complete this in-training service because his stipend ended. Confused about whether it was his workplace or the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority that had delayed the funds, he dropped out with only three months left.

“I was affected because I came very far. I was never able to complete the training; I owed my landlord three months’ rent, the food was almost finished, and transportation was another problem. I left my furniture there in Barberton,” the student said. 

This had affected his passion for school: “It feels like I have never done anything because I never got to the finishing line. I wanted a diploma, but I don’t have it because I don’t have a completion letter [from the workplace].”

The Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority is responsible for education, training and skills development in the health, social development and veterinary sectors. 

Critical role of NGOs in strengthening Seta mandates

Mandiphiwe Levani, the lead on emerging opportunities at the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, stresses that NGOs play an indispensable role in complementing the efforts of Setas to improve employment outcomes. Unlike rigid bureaucracies, NGOs often operate with greater flexibility and employer connectivity, helping bridge gaps between formal training and practical work readiness.

Key contributions NGOs can make include:

Enhanced data and outcome tracking: Harambee’s SA Youth Platform, with millions of registered young job seekers, provides a transparent, digital repository to track learner progress from training to employment. This capability enables SetaAs to access accurate, real-time data to evaluate and refine their programmes.

Employer linkage and work experience facilitation: NGOs facilitate critical connections between learners, educational institutions and employers, easing the challenge of securing workplace-based learning and internships – essential for skills application and job readiness.

Finishing schools for work readiness: NGOs provide post-training practical skills, soft skills development and job readiness interventions. These “finishing school” functions are crucial in preparing young people for permanent employment, especially where Seta or TVET programmes fall short.

Innovation pilots and programmatic agility: Agile NGO models can test innovative approaches to skills delivery and employment support that, once proven, Setas could adopt or scale. This partnership facilitates dynamic responses to changing industry needs.

By embracing collaborative frameworks, Setas can harness NGO expertise and networks to overcome current systemic shortcomings.

For Setas to fulfil their mandate, Naidoo argues, they must shift from being enrolment-driven to outcome-driven. They must measure completion, work readiness and employment outcomes. But more than that, they need to work with agile partners like YES.

“You don’t want to take away something that’s working and replace it with something worse,” he cautioned. “But you have to ask: If you were to change the Setas, what would you replace the change part with?” DM