The Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries has noted the utterances attributed to President Cyril Ramaphosa about the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) not living up to expectations.

The Chairperson of the committee, Mr Makhi Feni, said the President's observations have been formed over time and offer South Africa an opportunity to reset, in an effort to ensure workplace training is fit for purpose. "The SETAs were set up to enhance skills training in our country, and the committee welcomes the President's view that there needs to be a change in the SETAs focus."

"It is worth noting that the failure is not so much about the SETAs failing but governance challenges. It seems that too much time has been spent stabilising governance of these entities, and less on what they were set up to do," Mr Feni said.

The SETAs are a government intervention that seeks to address workplace training needs while reducing the cost of training entry-level employees in various aspects of their sectors, through a state-subsidised and incentivised programme. President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly told a gathering at the Cape Town International Convention Centre yesterday that the SETAs model is not working and needs to change.

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Mr Feni said the country must not lose momentum on training needs and workplace experiential training and learning. "The committee supports the President's call for a change, as the recent talk has been on non-core operations of SETAs, like board appointments. We urge the Department of Higher Education, the custodian of these entities, to start rethinking and remodelling the SETAs in line with the President's call.

"The interaction between employers and SETAs must establish how best to model a future SETA landscape without compromising the currently enrolled employees. The alleged rot in that space warrants more formal enquiry, and those found wanting should be taken to task," the Chairperson said.