EFF hauls Manamela to court over ‘irrational’ 24-hour reappointment of Seta bosses

“Irrational, unreasonable and impossible” is how Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) member Sihle Lonzi has framed Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela’s reappointment of several Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) CEOs in October 2025.

In the latest development in the long-running Seta saga, Manamela was on Monday, 23 February 2026, served with court papers by the EFF in connection with the appointments.

Manamela faced fierce backlash in Parliament on 26 November 2025, when MPs challenged the legality, transparency and credibility of his reappointments of the Seta CEOs. Critics argued that Manamela pushed through the five-year reappointments under extreme pressure and without due process.

According to documents before the committee on that day, Manamela instructed all 21 newly appointed accounting authorities (AA) to urgently meet on the day they assumed office and recommend suitable executive-level candidates for him to consider for the appointment of an acting CEO by, or before, 1 October 2025.

Read more: Manamela slammed for ‘unlawful, Illogical, unilateral, overnight’ reappointment of Seta CEOs

After 1 October, Manamela extended the contracts of eight Seta CEOs from 2025 until March 2030. The appointments included:

EFF’s argument

In the affidavit papers, Lonzi, a member of the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education, says the purpose of the application is to seek an order of the court “[…] declaring that the decision and/or conduct of the first respondent in appointing the scond to the ninth respondents as chief executive officers of the various Sector Education and Training Authorities constituted administrative action that is procedurally unfair, irrational, unlawful and invalid, and reviewing and setting aside such appointments in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000, alternatively in terms of the constitutional principle of legality”.

Lonzi told Daily Maverick: “There was no transparent process that was followed to appoint these CEOs.” He said Regulation 2 of the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998 was not followed in the appointment of the Seta executives.

In his affidavit, Lonzi refers to two committee meetings. In the first, on 29 October 2025, when questioned by Lonzi, the acting deputy director-general for skills development, David Mabusela, confirmed he was aware of the recent reappointments of several Seta CEOs for new five-year terms.

He asserted that the appointments followed the Skills Development Act (SDA) and that the minister had the “prerogative” to extend the terms of incumbents who demonstrated satisfactory performance. When pressed for the specific regulation number that allows for this “second process”, Mabusela conceded he could not recall the precise number but maintained it existed within the SDA regulations.

He said the new AAs were appointed before the CEOs’ terms expired on 30 September 2025, and that they had recommended the extensions within the prescribed period.

At the second committee meeting mentioned in the Lonzi affidavit, on 26 November, Manamela confirmed he appointed the respondents for five-year terms based on his “prerogative” and stated there was no need for recruitment, national advertising or selection committees.

When questioned about transparency, the minister stated he was “not required by law to be transparent” when reappointing CEOs for additional terms. He conceded that he sent a letter on 29 September 2025, instructing these newly appointed boards to hold urgent meetings and submit recommendations by 30 September, effectively giving them less than 24 hours to decide on five-year executive appointments. The minister confirmed that he eventually signed the appointments after 10 October 2025.

Lonzi — Seta appointments ‘rushed’

Lonzi told Daily Maverick: “It was rushed. These people [the AA] had just been appointed; chances are, they were still reading handover reports, and you are telling me that in less than 24 hours, these people have looked through the record of a CEO for the past five years and recommended that we believe that this person can be allowed to continue for an additional five years?

“It’s irrational, unreasonable and impossible,” Lonzi said

DHET spokesperson Matshepo Seedat told Daily Maverick that Manamela was served with court papers through the office of the sheriff on Monday, 23 February 2026. “The matter is before the court and will be addressed through the established legal processes and within the prescribed procedural timelines.”

Meanwhile, Chieta CEO Yershen Pillay told Daily Maverick that the minister had requested that all enquiries be channelled to his office. “The accounting authorities recommend CEO appointments to the minister, and the minister appoints; his office is therefore responsible. I obviously cannot comment, as I don’t appoint myself,” Pillay said.

A manager in the MQA CEO’s office, Kingwell Chirwa, said: “The MQA CEO will not provide any comments since the matter is sub judice.”

Read more: Minister withdraws recent appointments of chairpersons for Seta boards amid claims of nepotism and corruption.

Daily Maverick has reported extensively on the ongoing Seta battles, particularly leading up to the firing of former minister Nobuhle Nkabane by President Cyril Ramaphosa amid allegations of corruption after ANC members were appointed as chairs of the 21 Seta boards, appointments that were later withdrawn because of the public outcry. DM