Latest news with #R142.4
IOL News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Nkabane unfazed by calls for her axing over SITAs
Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane says she will not dignify direct attacks at her other than focus on the task at hand of serving the people of South Africa. Image: Facebook UNDER-FIRE Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane refused to be drawn to mounting calls for her axing, saying her task was to serve the people of South Africa. 'I am not going to dignify direct attacks on me. I am going to focus on the task at hand of serving the people of South Africa,' she said. She made the remarks when she presented her department's budget for the 2025/26 financial year in the National Assembly two days after doing so in the National Council of Provinces, where the DA, MK Party, and the EFF rejected it. The department has been allocated R142.4 billion and is set to increase at an average annual rate of 4.4% to R150 billion in the next financial year and R158 billion in 2027/28. 'This growth is not sufficient to meet growing demands for additional resources,' she said. The Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges have been allocated R14 billion, and both the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) and the National Skills Fund have a combined R26 billion. Nkabane is under growing pressure and could face legal consequences after Advocate Terry Motau, whom she named as chair of an independent SETA board advisory panel, stated that he never accepted or agreed to the position. She is being accused of misleading Parliament and manipulating the board appointment process to benefit politically connected individuals. The scandal began when Nkabane recommended a number of politically connected individuals to SETA boards. Among them were Buyambo Mantashe, son of Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, former KwaZulu-Natal Premier Dr Nomusa Dube-Ncube, KZN Transport head Siboniso Mbhele, and ANC Johannesburg deputy regional secretary Loyiso Masuku. She was forced to restart that process after President Cyril Ramaphosa apparently expressed his displeasure at the selection. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading On her department's budget, Nkabane said the funds allocated to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) were sufficient to meet the growing demand for access to higher education. NSFAS was allocated R48.7 billion, and its allocation will increase to R51 billion next year and R53.4 billion in 2027. She also said NSFAS remained committed to implementing a comprehensive student funding model for higher education to address the needs of the 'missing middle'. 'The National Skills Fund has set aside R3 billion over a three-year period.' Nkabane said the allocation for university education increased from R91.7 billion to R96 billion, with a R1.4 billion deficit on the universities' budget. 'We continue to work with the National Treasury to find a sustainable adjustment to the universities' budget,' she said. Tebogo Letsie, ANC MP and chairperson of the Higher Education Portfolio Committee, said they would ensure that the department, NSFAS, and universities were accountable. Letsie took a swipe at the DA for its stance to reject the department's budget because they don't believe Nkabane should be the minister. 'When you vote in 2026, remember them, they will be saying your poor child must not go to school and university because they have a problem with the minister,' he added. MK Party MP Mnqobi Msezane said they rejected the budget because they don't have confidence in the Ministry and Director-General Nkosinathi Sishi, who they claimed faced allegations of gross misconduct, fraud, and corruption, and was not suspended or investigated by Nkabane. DA MP Matlhodi Maseko said the higher education system was being systematically eroded by incompetence, deception, and the unchecked abuse of power in the system. 'The minister has repeatedly given conflicting representations to this House,' she said in reference to the SETA boards' chairperson appointment scandal and listed other challenges in the department under Nkabane's watch. Maseko said President Cyril Ramaphosa should remove Nkabane without delay. EFF's Sihle Lonzi accused the DA of cherry picking which budget to support and also criticised it for only discovering corruption in the department after former deputy minister Andrew Whitfield was fired from the executive.
Eyewitness News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
Some parties in National Assembly reject Nkabane's budget
CAPE TOWN - Some parties in the National Assembly have taken the lead from their National Council of Provinces (NCOP) counterparts in rejecting Minister Nobuhle Nkabane's higher education department budget. On Tuesday, parties in the NCOP called for her dismissal over the controversy over the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) board appointment process that had to be abandoned following an outcry. On Thursday, Nkabane was back before the National Assembly to present the same budget, which received a similar reception from the opposition benches. Under fire Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has faced more criticism in the National Assembly over the SETA board controversy, after tabling her department's budget. Rejecting the budget, ActionSA MP Malebo Kobe, slammed Nkabane and questioned the need for SETAs, calling them a waste of money. "At the helm of this disaster is a minister who embodies indifference. She concealed the names of so-called independent SETA selection panel and then got caught." Democratic Alliance MP, Karabo Khakhau, said that the real enemy of progress in the sector was Nkabane, and called on her to resign. "You don't need to wait for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire you if you mean it that you are a servant of the people. The people of South Africa say they do not want you to lead the department." African National Congress (ANC) MPs supported the R142.4 billion budget, saying there was no crisis in the department and the current leadership was more than capable of leading higher education.
IOL News
20 hours ago
- Business
- IOL News
Nobuhle Nkabane stands firm against opposition criticism of higher education budget
Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane says she will not dignify direct attacks at her other than focus on the task at hand of serving the people of South Africa. Image: Facebook Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane on Thursday said she would not dignify the attacks levelled against her when the DA and some opposition parties rejected her department's budget. Nkabane presented her department's budget for the 2025/26 financial year in the National Assembly two days after doing so in the National Council of Provinces, where the DA, MK Party, and the EFF rejected it. The department has been allocated R142.4 billion and is set to increase at an average annual rate of 4.4% to R150 billion in the next financial year and R158 billion in 2027/28. 'This growth is not sufficient to meet growing demands for additional resources,' she said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges have been allocated R14 billion, and both the Sector Education and Training Authorities and the National Skills Fund have a combined R26 billion. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is allocated R48.7 billion, and its allocation will increase to R51 billion next year and R53.4 billion in 2027. Nkabane said the allocation was not sufficient to meet the growing demand for access to higher education. 'We continue to seek efficient ways of allocating limited resources to ensure that no deserving learner is left behind.' She also said NSFAS remained committed to implementing a comprehensive student funding model for higher education to address the needs of the 'missing middle'. 'The National Skills Fund has set aside R3 billion over a three-year period.' Nkabane said the allocation for university education increased from R91.7 billion to R96 billion, with a R1.4 billion deficit on the universities' budget. 'We continue to work with National Treasury to find a sustainable adjustment to the universities' budget,' she said. Tebogo Letsie, ANC MP and chairperson of the Higher Education Portfolio Committee, said they would ensure that the department, NSFAS, and universities were accountable. 'We will ensure public resources are used efficiently, effectively, and transparently to deliver the ANC vision,' he said. Letsie took a swipe at the DA for its stance to reject the department's budget because they don't believe Nkabane should be the minister. 'When you vote in 2026, remember them, they will be saying your poor child must not go to school and university because they have a problem with the minister,' he added. MK Party MP Mnqobi Msezane said they rejected the budget because they don't have confidence in the Ministry and Director-General Nkosinathi Sishi, who they claimed faced allegations of gross misconduct, fraud, and corruption, and was not suspended or investigated by Nkabane. 'We don't have confidence in the Ministry and the department to oversee this budget,' Msezane said. DA MP Matlhodi Maseko said the higher education system was being systematically eroded by incompetence, deception, and the unchecked abuse of power in the system. 'The minister has repeatedly given conflicting representations to this House,' she said in reference to the SETA boards' chairperson appointment scandal and listed other challenges in the department under Nkabane's watch. Maseko said President Cyril Ramaphosa should remove Nkabane without delay. 'The future of our youth depends on strong, ethical, caring leadership, and until there is accountability at the very top, every rand in this budget will be another drop in a leaking bucket,' she said. EFF's Sihle Lonzi accused the DA of cherry picking which budget to support and also criticised it for discovering corruption in the department after former deputy minister Andrew Whitfield was fired from the executive. However, Lonzi said his party would not support the budget after presenting a seven-point plan to rescue the department. 'We have no certainty that the R142 billion is going to be used correctly,' he said.
