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) 
A storm erupted during an intense, long sitting of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education on 26 November 2025. Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Sihle Lonzi led the charge, along with Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Karabo Khakhau, sharply questioning how Manamela could have lawfully reappointed seven Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) CEOs the day after the brand-new Accounting Authorities, the Seta boards, assumed office on 30 September 2025.
“There is no way a rational, transparent and reasonable decision can be taken by a new board today and give a minister a name of a CEO that must sit for a further five years tomorrow. I do not believe that a rational decision was taken,” Lonzi told the committee.
According to documents before the committee, Manamela instructed all 21 newly appointed Accounting Authorities to urgently meet on the day they assumed office, and recommend three suitable executive-level candidates for him to consider for the appointment of an acting CEO by, or before, 1 October 2025.
After 1 October, Manamela made reappointments to contracts of seven Seta CEOs from 2025 until March 2030:
Setas | Reappointed CEOs |
| Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA) | Yershen Pillay |
| Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education and Training Authority (FASSET) | Ayanda Mafuleka |
| Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA) | Matome Madibana |
| Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) | Thabo Mashongoane |
| Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FP&M SETA) | Feleng Yende |
| Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSETA) | Gugu Mkhize |
| Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (W&R SETA) | Tom Mkhwanazi |
MPs argued that this process was made under pressure and flawed due to the deadlines. Lonzi said he believed Manamela made the appointments unilaterally.
A contradiction in writing
Lonzi stressed that: “There was no due process that was followed in Accounting Authorities (AAs or Seta boards) getting a name for minister, and it is simply unthinkable and illogical to send an AA a letter today and say give me a name of a CEO tomorrow, worse if the AA is new and we must believe that there was a transparent process,” said Lonzi ,suggesting that the appointments were unlawful.
Lonzi referred Manamela to a letter dated 6 October 2025, seen by Daily Maverick, in which the minister explicitly told Accounting Authorities that extending CEO contracts beyond their expiry date was unlawful.
“It has come to my attention that several Seta Accounting Authorities (AAs) have recommended the extension of contracts for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) whose terms of office ended on 30 September 2025… No CEO contract may be extended beyond its expiry date… and the individual cannot continue to act or exercise any powers in that capacity,” Manamela wrote.
Despite this written position, Manamela told MPs that his actions on 30 September were lawful, insisting that the Accounting Authorities “subsequently complied” with his directive.
Legal opinion not followed
The DA’s Khakhau, who also demanded accountability, referred the minister to a “route form” or legal opinion document seen by Daily Maverick dated 1 October 2025, compiled by Mabuza Ngubane in the minister’s office as a recommendation: “The Minister must appoint an Acting CEO from among the current executive management employees submitted by the AA. Outgoing CEOs cannot be regarded as employees beyond 30 September 2025 and therefore cannot be recommended in that capacity. Any recommendation that includes outgoing CEOs for acting positions should be regarded as irregular and beyond the legal framework,” reads the letter.
When Khakhau questioned whether Manamela was aware of this, Manamela said he could not confirm nor deny that he knew this document. When Khakhau asked Department of Higher Education and Training Legal and Legislative Services Advocate Ntombizodwa Kutta on their interpretation of this legal opinion and whether she had conducted a legal review, Kutta said, “The act is very clear that the incumbent CEO for her/him to be recommended by the board or AA for a further appointment, that CEO should have been in place by the 30 of September, and anything that happens beyond can only be an acting position that would be coming from the executives inside the particular Seta.”
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ED_568549.jpg "Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, has defended his controversial reappointment of Seta CEOs. (Photo: Frennie Shivambu / Gallo Images)<br>")
Khakhau questioned Manamela: “Do you then agree that the decisions that you take are inconsistent with the legal prescripts of your own legislation that governs your department?”
Manamela responded that it was subject to interpretation.
“Yes, there is a limit as to when can the accounting authorities make a recommendation in terms of the appointment of a CEO, acting CEO, but there’s no limit in terms of when the minister can actually consider that recommendation. So I think whether the decision is considered beyond the 30th, that’s something else.”
The chairperson of the committee, Tebogo Letsie, also questioned Kutta again on issues of the contract ending on a specific date.
“For example, if the ANC removes me, what does that mean?”
“In my view, any contract would be allowed to run in terms of what is in the contract, if it says come the 30th, you should be out, I do not see why you should not be out,” said Kutta.
When the appointments were made, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) was dismayed and noted in a statement released on 29 October 2025 that no advertisements had been issued, no meaningful interviews appear to have been conducted and no shortlist of candidates with substantive input was provided, all of which was in direct violation of the Seta CEO appointment regulations.
Track record and lack of transparency
Question marks have been raised about the reappointed CEOs as pointed out by the concerning audit outcomes and reports from Outa, suggesting that the criteria of “satisfactory performance” required for CEO reappointment may have been ignored in several cases.
Outa has stressed that Chieta’s CEO, Pillay, was reappointed despite being under active investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU Proclamation 267 of 2025) for serious maladministration and unlawful expenditure of public funds. The proclamation was for the period from 1 January 2016 to 13 June 2025, which also includes his past five-year tenure as the Chieta CEO.
“These were not strategic decisions. They were bureaucratic cover-ups — last-minute manoeuvres designed to preserve continuity of control, even at the expense of performance and integrity. Many Setas remain toxic workplaces where staff fear retaliation for exposing wrongdoing,” said Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage.
Read more: Higher education crisis exposes a ministry being recaptured
Outa also said that under Inseta CEO Mkhize’s leadership, Inseta had:
- Received four consecutive qualified audits from the Auditor-General of South Africa.
- Ignored a court order — reportedly under Mkhize’s instruction — to reinstate the Graduate Institute of Financial Sciences (GIFS) as a service provider, exposing Inseta to potential damages claims exceeding R200-million.
- Been implicated in highly irregular procurement practices, including:
- An office fit-out and relocation contract worth R14.1-million.
- A R14.5-million contract to develop an Enterprise Resource Planning system with QI Solutions that was not needed and has been problematic.
- A data-cleaning contract was awarded to HV Holdings for R18.3-million, which was terminated six months into the project.
Daily Maverick has reported that MQA CEO Mashongoane spent more than R2.-million on private security, including monthly private SUV vehicles, claiming that his life was under threat. Huge amounts were being spent by the reappointed CEO without explaining what type of danger he faced.
As the dust settles, pressure is building for an intervention that restores transparency and credibility within the Seta environment. DM