Illustrative image | Member of the National Assembly Karabo Khakhau | Former minister of Higher Education and Training Nobuhle Nkabane. | Sihle Lonzi, Member of the National Assembly. (Photos: Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament) 
Members of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Karabo Khakhau and Sihle Lonzi, who were vocal about alleged corruption and nepotism at the Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) after it emerged that ANC politicians were going to be appointed chairpersons for the 21 Seta boards responsible for skills development, allege that senior officials were behind these appointments, including the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantshe.
On 13 May 2025, Khakhau revealed on X that then Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane had appointed ANC cadres from KwaZulu-Natal to Seta boards, including the new Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Nomusa Dube-Ncube; former ANC provincial deputy chairperson Mike Mabuyakhulu; and Buyambo Mantashe, son of Gwede Mantashe.
🇿🇦Higher Ed Minister Nkabane appoints KZN ANC cadres and Mantashe’s son to SETA Boards (see list below). These appointments raise serious concerns about the politicisation of institutions meant to serve all South Africans. SETAs are not ANC cadre deployment havens, nor should… pic.twitter.com/1suwSkuExw
— Karabo Khakhau MP (@KaraboKhakhau) May 13, 2025
Following this, on 14 May 2025, Lonzi questioned the transparency and political impartiality of the Seta board appointments but was removed from the committee meeting by chairperson Tebogo Letsie (ANC).
Read more: EFF’s Sihle Lonzi evicted from Parliament after challenging Seta board appointments
On the day Nkabane ditched the 18 July committee meeting and accountability regarding the independent panellists and the process of appointing the chairpersons, Khakhau and Lonzi both told Daily Maverick that senior ANC politicians were behind these appointments.
Khakhau said that if there was a panel, Seta director Mabuza Ngubane, who testified on 18 July and denied involvement in the controversial Seta appointments, would have sent the list of applications and nominees to the panel instead of the minister; then the panel would engage with the minister.
“So it again begs the question: Was this panel a smokescreen to cover up the fact that the minister deliberately underwent a process of catered appointments to appoint ANC-connected politicians from KwaZulu-Natal, people who are linked to Gwede Mantashe, on the instruction of Gwede Mantashe to head up Seta board chairpersons? That’s the question that still needs to be resolved,” said Khakhau.
She added: “There’s more than what meets the eye, and she (Nkabane) won’t run away forever. This is a clear case of corruption.”
Read more: Fired minister Nkabane’s Seta panel existed in name only, MPs conclude
‘Minister is a pawn’
Meanwhile, Lonzi told Daily Maverick that Nkabane might be a front for this process, with higher-up officials in the ANC pulling the strings.
“We’re of the view that there are very senior ANC officials involved. In fact, very soon we’re going to make the argument that even the [former] minister herself is merely a pawn in a game of very senior leaders of the ANC who have for many years captured many government entities, SOEs, departments, and the like. And as time goes on, we’re going to be able to expose that to the people of South Africa,” said Lonzi.
“We’re developing an argument that these are typical decisions that are made in Luthuli House. We know how the corrupt ANC operates and how it captures SOEs. Instead of letting government officials do their work… from time to time they are summoned to Luthuli House, and they’re instructed, ‘No, put this person off.’ [We] saw that the son of Gwede Mantashe was made a chair of one of the Setas, and Gwede Mantashe is a very senior official of the ANC… The panel is Luthuli House,” he added.
Mantashe rubbishes claims from DA and EFF
On 28 July Mantashe told Daily Maverick that in the ANC, he was never part of any deployment committee, and that he had nothing to do with the Seta scandal.
“I would never influence appointments while I am not on the committee. My son is an educated adult with a master’s [degree]. So when he gets appointed, people should not say it is me… I met Lonzi and told him that you need to get educated,” said Mantshe.
The so-called independent panel issue was concluded last week, when four panellists said they were not involved after a public outcry and student formations calling for Nkabane to be removed as the Minister of Higher Education and Training. President Cyril Ramaphosa then axed Nkabane. However, before her removal ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula defended Nkabane in a media briefing at Luthuli House, saying Nkabane had not broken the law regarding the Seta board appointments.
Read more: ANC is ‘defending the indefensible,’ says DA after Mbalula backs Minister Nkabane.
The DA has opened criminal charges of fraud and statutory offences against Nkabane, and the Hawks are investigating the matter, according to reports. After Nkabane’s removal from office, Ramaphosa appointed Buti Manamela as the minister of higher education. Nkabane, however, continues to be an MP in the National Assembly. DM